Get Rid of the Heartbreak!
by PaRappa and Lammy
Summary: Lammy has hidden away her feelings for a certain rapping dog for several years now, as he already had eyes on a seemingly perfect flower girl, seeing it was simply not meant to be. But they're young adults now - what will happen when they decide to go through with what's in their heart? (Slow burn?) (PaRappa x Lammy) (Angst, romance, awkward teenagers)
1. Prologue 1

It was a bright, Monday morning, and the sky was as blue as it could ever be in PaRappa Town. The adults had already headed off to work in their usual bustle, and the kids had gone for their first day of school, excited to begin the year anew. Recess had begun at one of these many schools, and most of the students were running about, having the time of their life. Except for a few...

A small puppy was sitting on the sidewalk of the school playground, paying no mind to his fellow students. He had a blue boombox in his lap and a tape in his hand, and was trying to figure out how to make it work like his Dad had shown him. So far, to no avail.

"Hmmmm…"

Meanwhile, a teddy bear about a foot away had just woken up from his nap to see the young dog struggling with the cassette in his hand. He watched as he kept pressing every button on the machine, and whining in frustration when it didn't cooperate.

"Stoopid!"

The dog threw the tape away in a huff, and pouted on the spot, his oversized beanie starting to drape down over his eyes. Little did he know that his tape had landed right in the hands of the nearby stranger, who inspected it thoroughly before getting up to his feet.

A moment later, the puppy saw a fuzzy hand grab his boombox away.

"HEY! Tat's mine!"

But to his amazement, he watched as the bear pressed down on one of the compartments, revealing a slot. He inserted the cassette and clicked it into place, handing it back to the flustered dog.

"You have to open it first dummy."

He stood in silence, not even hearing the insult, but took the boombox from his outstretched hands instead. "Fank you."

He sat back down with the bear sitting next to him, and pressed the small triangle button. A slow beat began to play from it, and he started rocking slightly to the beat.

Music was always going through the puppy's mind - whether it be a song he had listened to before or one that he was making up on his own. This tape was a special gift from his dad, who had given it to him as a test for his beta invention, which he had created especially for his son.

"..." The bead shrugged at the song, not caring much that his music taste seemed a little bland. He's definitely heard worse before.

The dog kept moving, enjoying the simple song playing through the air. He gazed up and noticed a few students gathering around, starting to play in the company of the delightful sound.

One of them had caught his attention. Instead of playing with the others, a kitten was dancing alone, laughing as she skipped all around. Her tail whipped this way and that, along with the skirt she was wearing, not giving a care in the world.

Soon she saw the dog watching her, and hopped over to him. "Come dance with me doggy!" She held her hands out to him, giving a big grin to him as she let out another giggle.

Her cheeriness was quite contiguous, making the puppy give off a beaming smile of his own and struggle to get up to his feet. "Okay!"

He left his boombox playing next to the teddy bear, and went off to dance with his fellow classmate, laughing the entire way.

They started hopping and jumping all about, attracting the attention of their other classmates. The teddy bear watched them with a sleepy smile on his face, contemplating whether he should get up to join them or not.

Finally, the tape stopped playing, and the two kids walked over and sat back down next to the bear; their faces were red and they were huffing from all the fun they just had.

After a few moments of trying to gain their breath back, the kitten blew her hair out of her face and outstretched her paw. "Hi! My name's Katy. What's yours?"

The dog looked down at her paw, and nervously grabbed it, shaking it shyly. "...PaWappa."

The cat beamed at him, and delightfully asked, "Do you wanna be my friend PaRappa?"

He looked up at her, a worried look on his face. "Wu...weally?"

"Yeah! I like you, and I had fun dancing with you!" She gave off another smile, and respectfully put her hands into her lap.

Giving off his own smile, PaRappa brightened up, and gave an enthusiastic, "Okay Kitty!"

"Hee hee..it's Katy silly! Like cat!" She looked behind him to see a young teddy bear watching them converse. "Hello there! Do you want to be friends too?"

The bear looked surprised (or as surprised as he could look), and mumbled, "...okay. My name's PJ."

"YAY! The cat excitedly brought the two of them in for a hug. "We're gonna be the most bestest friends forever!" PaRappa gave a small giggle while PJ squirmed a bit in her grasp.

 _RIINNGG!_

A bell had gone off somewhere in the school, signaling that it was time for them to head back inside. Nearly all the students collectively gave out a saddened _Awwwwwww…._ and began shuffling toward the building.

"Oh, recess is over…" A glum blue kitten let her two new friends go, and upsettingly looked down at the ground, giving a small sigh.

PaRappa shuffled his foot, giving a sad look over at PJ, who also seemed a bit bummed.

Katy looked up at the two of them, trying to have an optimistic smile. "Aww..but we can always have fun tomorrow.. And maybe we can see each other inside!" She gave them both one last hug, and ran off while waving at them. "Bye PJ and PaRappa!"

PJ watched her run along, and waved PaRappa over as he started to walk to class. "Let's go. I think we have the same class together." PaRappa ran up and walked alongside him, wringing his hands together nervously. "Oh..here." A small boombox was put into his hands, to which the puppy looked up at him surprisingly. "You almost forgot it. I didn't want anyone to take it."

PaRappa gave him a genuine smile. "Fank you PJ."

The bear gave his own smile back. "..you're welcome."

"Mommy! Mommy!" An overjoyed pup ran over to the car that had just pulled up, bouncing happily as he waited for the woman in it to open her door.

She knelt down to give him a loving embrace, smiling as her red hat fell off of her head. "Awww..did you have a good first day at school PaRappa?"

"Mommy, I made new fwiends today!"

"You did? That's amazing!" She gave a small laugh as she lifted his beanie to look into his brown eyes, juxtaposed against her bright blue ones. "And you were so scared that they would be mean to you."

"They not meam! Look!" He pointed over towards the school at a distant teddy bear and the blue cat next to him, who were chatting with each other. "PJ and Katy!"

"PJ and Katy?"

"Yeah!"

"Aww..did they like your boombox?"

The pup had a huge smile on his face as he remembered the events that happened earlier. "Yeah! PJ helped me..and Katy danced with me!" He looked down at his clothes, and let out a small giggle when he saw the blackened mess smeared on them. "Mommyyy! You got my clothes dirty again!"

She gave a small laugh, saying, "Oopsie..sorry honey." Wiping off the ashes best she could, she continued with, "Mommy was very busy at work today - a lot of fires to deal with..But she's so happy to see that you had a good day today!" Giving him a big kiss on his cheek, she hugged him again and brought him in close to her.

"Mommy?"

"Yes PaRappa?"

"I love you." He nuzzled her uniform, giggling again.

"I love you too PaRappa."

He gazed up at her with wide eyes, excitedly saying, "Can't wait to go school tomorrow! With new fwiends!"

She gave him a warm smile. "That's wonderful honey. Just remember what I always tell you if you ever get scared again...

You gotta believe."


	2. Prologue 2

"Hey you guys!"

The two boys at the table looked up to see Katy walking towards them. It was lunchtime and they were in the cafeteria; PJ was busy munching away at his (and PaRappa's) lunch, while PaRappa had noticed that there was someone standing nervously behind the cat…

She proudly announced, "I want you to meet someone. She's the new student here and I was assigned to show her around." Scooting aside, she motioned toward the girl now next to her. "Well, say hi to Sunny you two!"

PJ gave a halfhearted wave, looking up from the table for just a moment. "Hi."

The dog next to him simply stared in awe at the stunningly beautiful creature he saw before him. She was wearing a simple dress, frilly at the ends and covered in rainbow polka dots. Her petals were rosy, the ones not fully grown out a deep red. The flower seemed a little shy, her face noticeably tinted with a blush.

PaRappa was at a total loss for words. "U-uh...I…"

Katy frowned at this, setting her hand on her hip. _Is he seriously trying to make her feel bad?_ He's been known to make a few dumb jokes before, and even tease people sometimes - this was not gonna be one of those times though. Not under her watch.

PJ quickly looked back and forth between the two, and blurted out, "PaRappa says 'Hi' too. He just stayed up late last night trying to finish his homework..so he's a little…" He made a circling motion near his ear while crossing his eyes, eliciting a small giggle out of the flower girl (to PaRappa's absolute delight).

"Aww..that's okay. I hope you get better soon...PaRappa." She took a moment to try and remember his name, and gave a sweet smile to him. The small dog just flushed in response, giving a hasty nod to her and shifting a bit in his spot.

Katy relaxed a little, realizing what was going on, and gave a thankful wink to PJ. "Come on Sunny, I'll show you to where we get in line."

The two walked away, leaving the boys alone at their table. After a few quiet moments, PJ looked over at PaRappa and gave him a smirk.

"..."

"...So-"

"NO I DON'T!" Blurted out PaRappa. He then gave a mortified expression, and pulled his still oversized hat down over his eyes. _Ah geez_... _I can't believe I just said that...whhhyyyyy….._

The teddy bear gave a smug smile to him. "Yeah, you do."

A small whine was let out of the dog in response, to which PJ gave a frown at. As if he didn't trust him, or something like that.

"Geez, relax. I'm not gonna tell her or anything."

His friend lifted his beanie up a notch, eyeing him suspiciously with one eye. "..You promise?"

"Well, yeah. Best friends don't do mean things like that to each other. You can figure that stuff out yourself." He then gave a big yawn, and rested his head down onto his arms, mumbling, "I'm gonna take a quick nap. Wake me up when we have to get back to class."

PaRappa was staring off into space, thinking about PJ's words.. _Best friends? He thinks of me as his best friend?_ He looked over at him, and smiled when he saw he had already dozed off. The two never exactly had much deep conversation before, so topics such as how deep their friendship was had never really become a subject to talk about. _But we've been friends for a few years now...3 years? 4?_ Nevertheless, PaRappa gave a soft chuckle to himself when he went over the words in his head again. _Best friends..._

He picked his head back up and gave an even bigger grin when he could clearly see Sunny chatting with Katy in the lunch line. _Wow..she's so pretty…_

The dog buried his head in his arms and scrunched his face while trying to think on the situation. _I..gotta do something. Something to get her attention, or just anything so we can be friends at least. I don't know what..but it has to be something...But what?_

 _Well…I don't know what. But I do know one thing._

 _I gotta believe…_


	3. Prologue 3

"Ugh, darn it!" Katy spat out her words, incredibly irritated with the lack of skill she was attempting to overcome.

The bass guitar in her hands simply gave off a small glint in response, to which Katy grumbled and squinted her eyes at. _It's way too bright in here..._ the fluorescent lights of the band room clashed against the natural sunlight shining in through the small windows, creating all sorts of gleamings that beamed off each shimmering instrument in the room.

She had been granted access to the area after school when she had finally pestered the music teacher enough, albeit under strict supervision. The aide that was supposed to be keeping an eye on her had fallen asleep, and was slouching at the lone desk on the far side of the room.

Personally, she didn't understand it very well. She was always kind and respectful to anyone...plus, she got good grades and has never been known to stir up trouble. So why must there be someone set to watch her as if she's just a kindergartner? * _Do they not trust me or something? There's not even anyone else here!*_

 _ **Click.**_

The door had opened just a tiny bit, and someone poked their head in very quickly before locking eyes with Katy.

"Eep! I'm sorry, I'll-"

"No no, it's okay! I don't mind if you have to practice too; I can just go to one of the backrooms if you need me to."

The cat gave a cheerful grin to the girl, who just gave a shy smile and mumbled, "Okay.."

She opened the door slowly, being careful of making any excessive noise, and closed it behind her as quietly as possible. She then delicately strode in, her eyes focused entirely on the ground.

The student had short dark-orange hair, with a red shirt and blue jeans. The horns on top of her head (* _Huh…horns?*)_ were filed down, and she had a green watch on her left arm, which she seemed to check every now and again nervously.

The girl walked past Katy to one of the many doors behind her, and went inside. She emerged moments later with a guitar, and was holding it close to her, protectively.

Katy brightened up considerably at this, and cheerily asked, "Oh! You play the guitar?"

The girl brought her guitar even closer to herself, nervously mumbling, "Y-yes…"

"That's amazing! Have you been playing for a long while?"

Her face had blushed considerably, and she muttered, "Mmm...yeah. For a few years now…"

Katy was leaning on her bass guitar now, intrigued over this new person she's never seen before. "Cool...I've been trying to learn the bass guitar for a long while, but I've been having a bit of trouble getting it down."

"Urrmm..I'm sorry…"

Katy gave a kind smile, saying, "Well now, you don't have to be sorry about that." She walked over to the girl, and held her hand out respectfully. "My name's Katy. What's yours?"

The girl nervously eyed her outstretched paw, and slowly extended her own, albeit shakily. "L-Lammy. My name's Lammy…"

"Lammy, huh?" Katy beamed at her, happy to have met her. Meeting new people was always an enjoyable event for herself. "I've never seen you around before Lammy. You just move here?"

"O-oh, not really..I've been going here for a month now..just...I…" She went off into mumbling, seeming a tad uncomfortable with the situation she was in.

Katy frowned slightly, understanding why she's never seen her before. * _Poor thing...she's so quiet that no one gave her a chance._

 _Well not this time.*_

"Aww...I'm sorry…" Katy gave another smile to her, trying to get her to give one in return. "It's such a shame since it seems like you're such a nice girl."

Lammy looked up at her with a questioning gaze. "W..you r-really think so?"

"Of course!" The cat gave a grin to her, happy to finally get some sort of positive response out of her.

 _ ***CRASH!***_ A bass drum had suddenly fallen down along with several cymbals, causing the two to jolt in terror. Katy looked around frantically for the source of the noise, while Lammy had frozen in place, clutching her guitar like a lifeline.

At the other side of the room, a mouse in a red dress was busy trying to collect all the bits of the drum set that had fallen apart on her. "(Rotten, cheap, school drumset!)"

Katy's ears had pricked up at this, recognizing the language she was muttering. "Hey..are you okay?"

The mouse continued with setting together the drum set, paying no attention to the two girls in the room.

Katy cleared her throat, and spoke aloud best she could, "(Hey, are you okay?)"

The small creature had frozen in her fervor, and slowly turned toward Katy with a confused look. "(...Are you talking to me?)"

"(Absolutely! Are you hurt at all?)" The cat cheerfully asked in her best dialect, while the lamb behind her watched them converse.

"(No...no, I'm not hurt. But...you're speaking my language.)"

Katy cocked her head at her, still giving her signature smile. "(I am able to conversate in quite a few languages. Home studies and such…)" She shrugged, continuing with, "(I do not mind. I actually really like it. It makes talking to different people much easier.)"

The mouse stood up and ran over, and encased Katy's leg in a hug. She was caught off guard by this, but knelt down to look the mouse in the eyes, feeling her heart soften when she saw tears in her eyes.

"(I can't believe there's someone I can actually talk to here...everyone I've tried to talk to thinks I'm some foreign weirdo that doesn't understand anything…)" She wiped her eyes, giving a small sniffle and looking at Katy with a smile. "(We moved here recently, and it's been hard to adjust..I can understand English, but I just can't speak it very well...it's what you would call, 'broken english'. Hmph.)" She folded her arms across her chest, the little stick of dynamite starting to smoke atop of her head. _Wait, dynamite?!_

The cat tried to ignore the potential bomb in front of her, instead going with trying to comfort the hurt girl. "(That is just terrible to hear...I am so sorry you have had to endure all this horrible treatment…)" Katy put her hands into her lap respectfully. "(No one should ever act like that towards another...if you would like, I would not mind giving you lessons, to help you transition here.)"

The mouse looked up at the cat, incredibly surprised at her straightforwardness. "(Really? You would do that for me? But I barely know you…)"

Katy gave a small smile, and outstretched her paw once again. "(We should get to know each other then! My name is Katy. What is yours?)"

The mouse raised an eyebrow to the paw offered to her, but took it in her own anyways and gave a firm handshake. "(My name's Ma-San. You're really prim and proper..)"

Katy gave a small laugh, and stated, "(I am sorry if I seem like that. I was raised that way. It is quite hard for me to switch back and forth between home manners and school demeanor.)"

The mouse gave a squeaky laugh, and retorted, "(Heh, it sure is. You won't believe how we have to act at home. It's like living in a drill sergeant's house…)" Ma-San looked behind the cat kneeling in front of her, and finally noticed the lamb standing there awkwardly. "(Who's your friend?)"

Katy looked behind herself, realizing she had forgotten about Lammy. "(Oh! This is my friend Lammy. We had met just now actually.)" She stood up and stepped back, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Lammy, I want you to meet Ma-San. I'm sure she would love to have another friend."

Lammy nervously cleared her throat, and anxiously muttered, "Urm...h-hello Ma-San." She waved her hand half heartedly, averting her gaze to avoid eye contact.

Ma-San gave her a skeptical look, and muttered to Katy, "(She's really shy, isn't she?)"

Katy gave a nervous laugh, putting her hands behind her back. "(Heh, yeah, you could say that…)"

Ma-San looked up at Lammy, and plainly stated, "(You need to grow a pair.)"

The cat was caught incredibly off guard by her bluntness, bringing her hands to her mouth in utter disbelief at what she just heard her new friend say..and to someone's face, no less.

"*( _Ma-San!)*"_

Lammy looked at Katy, nervously muttering, "W-what? What did she say? Urm, I'm sorry, I don't k-know much….um…"

Katy quickly looked back and forth between the two, and slowly said, "She said she's very happy to meet you Lammy."

"(That's not what I said.)"

"And she's also incredibly happy to be your friend too."

"(That's not what I said either.)"

" _(Ma-San…)_ Erm, so now that we've all been introduced…" Katy glanced at Lammy's guitar, and then at the drumset Ma-San had been attempting to put back together. "Hmm...you guys play much here at school?"

Ma-San shrugged, setting her hands on her hips. "(I just wanted to take a look at the drumset here at the school. It's a hunk of junk compared to mine back home.)"

Lammy rubbed her arm, and mumbled, "N-no..not really...usually I just leave it here in the band room for safekeeping...then pick it up after school."

Katy looked back and forth between the two, giving a sheepish smile to them. "I'm actually not really good at the bass guitar..I just picked it up recently, and I'm still having trouble with trying to get everything down…"

The shy lamb next to the cat let out a small hum, and offered, "W-well...I wouldn't mind helping you with it. I don't know as much about it as the electric guitar, but I know all the basics at least…"

Katy practically beamed at her request, squeaking out, "Really?! Oh my God!" She threw her arms around her and gave her a big hug, to which Lammy had given out a nervous giggle but didn't move away. "You seriously don't know how much I would just love that! Thank you so much!" She looked down at Ma-San, who just raised an eyebrow at her overly affectionate friend, and mumbled, "Aww, c'mere, you too!"

"(Wha- hey! Watch it!)" The mouse gave an irritated grunt at this affection she wasn't used to having. Eventually she gave a small smile and patted Katy nervously, feeling a bit off but appreciating her friendliness.

The cat stood up and held her guitar fondly in her hands, asking her two new friends, "So you guys..I have a crazy idea."

"(Yeah?)"

"W-what is it?"

"Well...what if...just what if...we made our own band?"

"W-what?!"

"(Seriously? We just met each other like 3 minutes ago and you wanna form a band with us?)"

"Well, I know it seems silly, but think about it at least. You playing a sweet riff on your guitar..." The sheep gave a shy smile and looked down at her feet. "And you, playing away on the drums…" Ma-San twitched an ear, waiting to see her point. "And me, on the bass guitar, plus lead vocals, and we have all the things we need!"

Ma-San gave a small smile to her, tapping her chin with a thinking finger. "(Well, I guess that's true..but you haven't even heard me play. And i don't think you've heard her play either -)" She motioned toward Lammy, who simply watched as the two talked to each other. "(How do you know we're any good to be in a band?)"

Katy gave a smile to her new friends, shrugging off her complaint. "I have trust in you two. I'm sure you're both amazing players - and plus, we can always practice together!" She looked around the band room, squinting at the conflicting rays of light. "In fact...do you guys wanna just go and get started? We can head over to my house to practice today. The weird lights in here are starting to make me feel woozy…"

Lammy shuffled on the spot, muttering, "O-oh, I don't know about tha-"

"(Meh, what the heck. I don't have anything else to do today.)"

"Well...well, why not, I guess."

Katy gave another delighted grin, and happily twittered out, "Alright then! Let's get going!" She began to lead the way out of the band room with her friends following close behind.

Suddenly, she stopped and hurried back towards the room. "Ooh, hold on a second. Gotta do something really quick." she popped her head in and shouted, "Thanks for keeping an eye on me! I'm going home now!" And with that, she and her two new friends went on their way.

The aide still inside the room was rustled only slightly at her shout, and continued to doze away at her desk.


	4. Prologue 4

Lammy gave out a small hum as she delicately padded her eye with the small wipe in her hand, trying her best to get the eye shadow off. It looks nice..really nice..but she'll just wear it only at concert time. It was a hassle to take off...

The first concert of MilkCan had gone amazingly - a completely full house, and then some. They were already getting plenty of offers from other studios wanting to have them perform at their place.

"Whew!" A cheerful cat had walked into the room, sitting down with a huff in a chair next to Lammy. "We really did amazing out there, didn't we?"

"(Eeyup...never thought I'd see the day that people would be cheering me on…)"

"Mm-hmmm…" Lammy was a bit too distracted with her makeup removal, and didn't react when Katy scooched her chair over directly next to hers, practically glowing in excitement.

"You especially did amazing out there Lammy. I can't believe you were playing your guitar while you were down inside the crowd!"

The lamb gave her a small smile in reply, and continued wiping off her eye. * _Almost done…*_

 _ ***Knock knock**_ **.*** The door had been knocked upon with a soft tone, leading the members inside it to look towards it.

Katy was the only one to not give a tired groan at it, shouting out, "Just a minute!"

She ran up to the door and opened it, giving out an excited gasp.

Lammy finally got the last of the eye shadow off, and glanced over to where Katy was standing.

 _*Hmm..it looks like there's no one there…*_

But sure enough, Katy had bent down and gave the person a hug, cooing out, "I can't believe you managed to get here! I thought no one would be able to come since you were all so busy today!"

"Well, sure I'm a busy guy. Doesn't mean I'd miss your first concert though. Plus, I had to help you haul all your equipment here too - would wanna see how my own hard work paid off for you."

The voice belonged to a boy, who of which had strolled in after Katy. A bright orange beanie sat atop of his head, and his jeans looked a few sizes too big with how baggy they were...he seemed so much shorter standing next to his welcoming friend, who waved for her friends to come over, and announced, "MilkCan, I want you to officially meet PaRappa! It's thanks to him that we were able to get this concert going!"

The two had politely risen up, and walked over to meet him.

Ma-San gave a tired smile to the dog, greeting him in her best English. "Hey, nice to meet you."

Lammy, meanwhile, had felt like her feet were glued to the floor. Something was preventing her from speaking as well, all the words getting caught in the middle of her throat.. * _What...why can't I…_

 _...oh no…*_

Katy saw her hesitation, and threw a friendly hand over her shoulder. "Hey now, there's no need to be so shy Lammy! I've known PaRappa for a really long time." She led her toward him, and placed a hand on his shoulder too. "See? Perfectly fine."

The dog had just given a kind smile to the lamb cowering in front of him, trying to relieve any fears she had of him. Of course, it did quite the opposite; it forced her to tear her gaze away and cover her stomach with her arms.

"U-uh...urm...h-h-hi PaRappa…."

Katy let out a small giggle, giving her friend a friendly shake. "Well now, you're gonna have to be a lot louder than that! He may be a dog, but not even he would be able to hear you like that."

"Urrh…"

"(Ahem.)" A perceiving mouse attempted to clear her throat to get the attention of her feline friend.

Lammy felt like she was gonna melt into a puddle on the floor. "Um...h…"

"(..Ahem.)"

The lamb shut her eyes, trying her best to force the words out of her already. "H-h…"

"(AHEM.)"

A distracted cat had suddenly whipped her head around to her alerting friend, grumbling, "(What is it Ma-San?)"

The mouse held her hands at her hips, not entertained at the cringe-worthy scene before her. "(Do you not realize what's going on here? I thought you of all people would be taking it easy on her.)"

Katy gave a quick glance to her stuttering friend, and then back to the one talking to her. "(No..? Lammy here is just having a sudden shy moment is all…)"

Ma-San scoffed at her. "(Do you maybe have an idea WHY she's like this all of a sudden?)"

"(...no? There's a reason this time?)"

The mouse rolled her eyes, simply pointing towards their guest who was standing there with his hands in his pockets, still smiling at the stuttering lamb in front of him. "(You seriously don't know? I think you're more tired than you let off…)"

"(I feel fine Ma-San. Now what are you trying to say?)"

She gave an irritated grunt, and bluntly replied, "(She has the hots for him you idiot.)"

Lammy froze in her stuttering, and whipped around towards the mouse. "Wh-what?! I-I-I don- I don't…" Although she wasn't as articulate with it as Katy was, she had been able to pick up bits and pieces of Ma-San's native language. And of course, using context clues on what she's saying, she figured out what she had said about her.

Katy jolted in her spot, bringing a protective arm around Lammy's shoulders and saying to PaRappa, "Sorry...Lammy's a bit shy..and she had a long day too, y'know. We all did." She brought her to a chair, and called out over her shoulder, "Let's plan a get together some day soon so we can officially meet each other when we're not half asleep!"

The rapper gave a small laugh, and said back, "Sounds good! I'll leave you guys alone then - I know what it feels like to be beat after a performance." And with that, he saw himself out.

Lammy was sitting dumbfounded in her chair, her face feeling hot enough to match the heat from the sun. _I can't believe that just happened…_

Katy was looking over at her friend worriedly, while Ma-San had a large grin on her face.

"(So Lammy...I didn't know you had a thing for red rockets.)"

"Aaugh!" Lammy covered her face with her hands, feeling hopelessly embarrassed.

Katy slapped her friend across the soldier, hissing out, "Cut it out Ma-San!" She herself was never much of a fan of vulgar jokes - especially not at the expense of someone else. "Now's not the time!"

"(Ugh..ow...fine, alright. Can't even take a harmless joke...)" She walked over to her drum set and pulled out a comic book, sitting down with a small huff.

Katy watched her with a steady glare, and then finally turned toward Lammy, setting her hand on her back as a show of comfort. "You alright there Lammy?"

"...no."

"Heh...well, I'm sorry. I guess I didn't really think this through when I invited him over to meet you two.."

The lamb had lifted her head up slightly, feeling guilty over her reaction now. "No no, d-don't be sorry, please. If anything, I should be the one to say I'm sorry." She looked down towards her shoes, uttering, "You definitely deserve it after how I acted like a total idiot in front of him. Probably thinks I'm all weird now…" She began muttering to herself, hanging her head down and fumbling with her hands.

Katy gave a light hearted shrug, saying, "Now, you don't have anything at all to feel sorry about. The heart wants what the heart wants, doesn't it?" She bent down to give her a comforting hug, hoping to relax her somewhat. "And there's nothing at all wrong with that."

"(Well that's an optimistic way of putting it. Even for you.)"

Katy glanced up, giving Ma-San a confused glare. "Now what's that supposed to mean?"

The mouse rolled her eyes, and closed her book momentarily. "(She's gonna end up in a world of hurt with encouragement like this. You do remember who we're talking about, right? The guy who's been pining over that one girl for how many years now? You've talked to me about it enough times for me to practically recite all the stories.)"

The cat let out a small gasp, and gave a somber look over at Lammy, who was watching them talk innocently. "Oh….oh, right. To think I almost forgot about that.." The poor little thing didn't know what she was in for.

"W-what? What's wrong?" The lamb looked back and forth between her two friends, wondering what they could be possibly talking about. She wasn't able to pick up many words this time...only that they were talking about her.

Katy looked down at her nervous friend, and embraced her, hoping to hug away all the fears she had. "It's nothing Lammy. Nothing to worry about at all…"


	5. Prologue 5

_*Uugh...where is she?*_

A bored lamb had one of the many guitars from the wall in her hands, and was tuning it mindlessly. She managed to learn how to tune by ear over the years, and it was somehow calming to her to do so.

Katy still hadn't come back from her errand that her boss assigned her yet, so she was simply waiting right there in the music store for her. * _She said she'd be right back though…_ * of course, she did grab her car keys. And was running back inside constantly this morning for something she forgot. * _She must be having another off day.*_

Oh well...no use stewing over it. She finished plucking the last string on the guitar, and got up from her seat to set it back, when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Hey."

She turned around to see a slightly aged dog looking at her inquisitively. His usual blue shirt was replaced with a slightly darker one with a purple stripe, and his beanie now bore a heart instead of a frog.

Lammy gave a shy smile to him, bringing the guitar closer to herself, and flicking her now pierced ear. Usually she would be stuttering over her words (thanks to her mind going into shutdown mode at the very sight of him); but thanks to the guitar in her hands, she was able to say to him, "Hi PaRappa. W-what brings you here? Usually you don't come to the music store."

He shrugged, putting his hands into his pockets and looking up at the guitars. "Dunno. Just decided to since I was bored…" Truth was, he tried to head over to Sunny's to see if she wanted to hang out for the day. Turns out that she wouldn't be home for a while. Might as well see his other friends while he waited.

Lammy watched as he studied each of the guitars, then let his gaze travel down to the one she held in her hands. He gestured to it, asking, "You still play?"

The lamb snickered at this, then belted out a short riff on her guitar, her hands sliding rapidly up and down the frets.

When she finished, she gave a sly smirk to him in triumph. "That answer your question?"

A small chuckle was let out of him. "Nice." He then picked up a microphone that was sitting on the speaker next him, going, "Personally I think a solid rap would be better. But still."

Lammy gave him a disgruntled look, a competitive spark starting to burn within her. * _Oh no he just didn't.*_ "Hold on...what was that you just said?"

PaRappa looked over at her mischievously, putting on a slightly innocent act. "I mean, it's cool, sure...but a good rap can always outperform a guitar solo, in my honest opinion."

The ember had now burst into a roaring fire inside her, causing her to excitedly blurt out, "I bet I can play circles around you. Any time, any day."

"Oh..is that a challenge I hear?" An impish grin had now spread across his face, his own ears starting to prick up at the possibility of a new rival.

 _*He is just asking for it now.*_ "Think you can handle me, PaRappa the Rapper?"

"Any day, Jammer Lammy." He held up the microphone in his hand, it now being connected to the amp next to him. "Let's just see if you can beat my rap."

She narrowed her eyes at him, holding a pick to the guitar she was holding, ready to roll. "You're on."

An exhausted Katy stepped out of her car, glad to finally be done with the time consuming task she was assigned by her manager. * _Lazy old...ugh. I shouldn't think such things, but there was no reason he couldn't have done it himself!*_

She threw her purse around her shoulder, just narrowly avoiding bumping into a person in front of her.

 _*Oops! Gotta watch where I'm…._

 _wait a minute…*_

The person was actually part of a crowd. A very large crowd that was surrounding the music store.

Katy twitched her tail in confusion, wondering if she had forgotten another special event…* _I should really keep a calender or something...oh well - might as well head inside and help them out.*_

She pushed past the people as politely as she could, offering out apologies for each one she had to move by. "Oof..sorry about that. Excuse me! Excuse me - gotta get through."

"Oh, hey Katy."

"Huh? Oh, PJ! Hey! Whatcha doing here? And actually, what about this crowd? Is there another special event going on that I forgot again?"

The cat bombarded her drowsy friend with several questions, who simply shook his head in response to most of her questions. He was a common customer to her workplace, so he tended to be on top of the promotions they were having. "Nah, not this time. Just heard about what was happening here and decided to check it out."

She looked around frantically, her sight obscured by all the people standing near her. "What? What is it then?"

He motioned for her to follow, then lead her to the heart of the crowd, who had surrounded a panting lamb and dog. The two were sitting down on the chairs, Lammy loosely gripping her guitar and PaRappa rubbing his throat.

"Ack...I…" The dog grumbled in a hoarse voice, forcing himself to sit up. "...No one's ever been able to keep up with me before." He look particularly amazed; it was a breath of fresh air compared to everyone else that tried to outplay him.

The lamb slouched in her chair, setting down the guitar and then rubbing her aching hands. "Heh...um…"

Suddenly, the crowd that had accumulated around them burst into cheers, jolting the two wide awake from their stupor.

"That was amazing!"

"You guys rocked together!"

"I can't believe how good you two played!"

"You guys make a great team!"

"A wonderful pair!

"Fantastic together!"

"When's the next concert?"

"Are you guys gonna do it again?"

Lammy melted into her chair, incredibly flustered by all the attention she and PaRappa had attracted. The guitar she set down was just out of reach, and she was too nervous to move from her spot. * _O-oh no….*_

Meanwhile, PaRappa seemed to be moderately enjoying the attention, albeit caught off guard by their questions. "Whoa, uh, heh..one question at a time?"

Katy lit up at seeing the two, shouting out, "Lammy! PaRappa! Wh-what happened here?"

The duo looked at each other slowly, then back at her. "Uhhh…"

PJ gave a small smirk, whereas the cat next to him set her hands on her hips with a smirk of her own. "You guuyyysss…."

PaRappa startled, shouting out, "W-wait! It's not like that!"

Lammy took a moment to register her words, but then let out a shy squeak, covering her face with her hands. She mumbled something along the lines of, " _Katy! That isn't.."_

The cat just let out a small laugh. "Oh you guys! I'm just messing with you! I'm guessing you finally had a big play off against each other?"

The rapper nodded to her, crossing his arms. "Yeah. Turns out…" He looked over at the lamb next to him, giving her a small smile that made her flush even more. "..she's actually pretty good. Really blew my expectations."

Lammy looked at him from behind her fingers, and simply gave a shy smile in response. * _Really? Blew his expectations? Wow…*_

Katy clapped her hands together, absolutely ecstatic that the two officially became friends. "That's so amazing to hear! How about we go get some ice cream to celebrate?"

The two brightened up, with PaRappa jumping out of his seat, and Lammy beginning to relax as the crowd began to disperse around them.

"Ooh...that sounds awesome right about now.." He let out a small cough, rubbing his throat again.

She got up as well, rubbing her arm nervously and wincing at her calloused touch. "U-um...sounds good actually…"

"Cool!" Katy gave each of her friends a quick hug, and ran off, shouting over her shoulder, "I'll be there in a moment - just gotta check with my manager real quick and then we can go!"

The three friends watched her sprint towards the back of the store, and turned to each other. PJ was the first to address it.

"It's about time you guys went against each other. Must've been a crazy performance."

The two sheepishly nodded at him, too tired from the recent spectacle to say much now. Lammy especially felt drained from it; all those people when she wasn't expecting it...plus, the tips of her fingers especially burned from all that playing.

 _*A cold bowl of ice cream sounds amazing right now…*_

PaRappa looked over at her, clearing his throat to get her attention. He defeatedly said in slightly gruff voice, "You know..you're a better player than you let on."

She felt herself blush again at yet another compliment of his, stuttering out, "Y-you really think so?"

"Mm hmm. Was a lot of fun too going up against you...actually, y'know what?" He excitedly brought his hands together. "We should make this a regular thing with us!"

"W-what?" She froze on the spot, afraid to ask for to him to clarify on what he was insinuating.

"Yeah! PJ could let us use his garage.." He looked over at the bear, who gave a relaxed shrug. "..and you could even invite Katy and Ma-San if you want."

 _*Oh. Thank goodness…*_

"U-um..that sounds pretty fun actually…" The lamb wrung her hands together, attempting to give him a nervous smile.

He gave a small laugh at her apprehension, saying, "You don't have to be so shy around me, y'know. We're friends, right?" He held out his fist, giving a benign grin to her.

 _*Friends?*_

She hesitatingly balled up her own hand, but sure enough, held her fist to his. "Y-yeah..yeah, we are." A tired smile came across her face, trying to come off as genuine.

 _*Friends. Just friends._

 _Nothing more, and nothing less.*_


	6. Another Day

"Hmmmm...I can't find this word."

A frustrated lamb wags her pencil as she once again scans the jumble of letters in front of her for the key word she chose. * _GUITAR._

 _Oh, come on! I should have found it already!*_

Letting out a scoff of annoyance, she lifts her eyes from her page to the clock on the wall opposite of her. 5:49.

 _*Just about 10 more minutes and I can finally get out of here.*_

She looked down under the clock, and saw the same two doors still haven't budged for nearly two hours now. Lammy was at her job today at the music store - which was just a little thing to pass the time and raise a bit more cash between MilkCan concerts. Business had been incredibly slow in the music store today though...and of course, she was set in the smack dab in the middle of it.

In fact, her best friend Katy always had the pleasure of working the hours that tended to be the busiest; no matter what, there would always be an influx of people lined up at the counter. It happened to be quite the opposite for herself ...which she didn't mind much at all. It was nice to be surrounded by musical equipment without worrying over a bunch of little kids making an utter mess, or a group of teenagers nesting over in the guitar and drums section.

How Katy was able to handle all that, she would never know.

 _*Well. I found AMP. Not what I was looking for, but whatever._

 _Hey, it's not even one of the words!*_

Closing the book so she can massage her head, she let out an impatient groan. This dumb crossword puzzle book was untouched when she came in...and she had finished them all. Well..except for this last one.

Looking up again, she read the same old clock to find the same old time on it. 5:49.

Lammy felt her head sink down onto the counter. Now she was just staring at the floor. Nothing better to do.

 _*So...bored…._

 _Why'd I have to get stuck here like this today. Of all the days to…*_

Suddenly, she heard the front door open, and shot up from her seat in order to give the same greeting she's given for 2 years.

"Good afternoon! Will you be needing any help finding anything today?"

"Well now, I believe everything I've needed to find is right here, talking to me!"

A blue cat who was as tall as her friend she was referring to stood in the doorway, grinning cheerily and swishing her tail around in excitement to see her friend. She looked glad to not only see her best friend before she went off to her important thing today, but to also be there at the store with her gleaming position as assistant manager; in Lammy's eyes, she's deserved it completely.

Katy bounded over, giving her friend an ecstatic hug. Her usual attire that consisted of a heart stamped sweater and knee high boots were exchanged for the store uniform - a standard t-shirt with two music notes on it that formed a heart, along with jeans and sneakers.

Katy was always going on about how 'boring' it was, but she herself didn't mind it at all.

She let go of Lammy, happily asking, "So I'm guessing it was a slow day today?"

The lamb gave out a small groan, grumbling out, "You have no idea...look." She held up the crossword book in her hands, and flipped through the pages. "All except one; completely done."

"Ha, wow! Record time too. You need something else to take up your time…" She waved her tail through the air, asking, "So, you have any plans today?"

Lammy stood up straight at being reminded of it. "Oh, right! We have a jam session today!" She let out a small squeak of excitement, then looked over at Katy. "You're always welcome to come, if you want."

The cat simply waved a dismissive hand at this. "Nah...last time I went I had a headache for hours…." She then gave a small smirk to her friend. "You're pretty excited about it, huh?"

"Y-yeah..I guess I am today…"

"Hmm, that's all fine and dandy." She raised an eyebrow at her. "Excited to see a * _certain someone_ *, huh?"

Lammy nodded her head thoughtlessly, not thinking about her question much. After a moment, it had registered what she said, and she jolted back, her cheeks blushing at what she was intending. "W-wha...Katy!"

Although the two were much closer than they used to be, having weekly jam sessions and texting each other occasionally, Lammy and PaRappa were still simply friends with each other. For the sake of their friendship, she hadn't done anything about her feelings..not just because she was terrified of the answer - but because she knew what it was. He already had his eyes on someone else...a certain, seemingly perfect flower girl that she was constantly comparing herself to.

"Now, don't deny it Lammy; I still know you feel like that even after all these years. Planning on trying anything today? Maybe something I can * _help with?*_ "

"N..no…"

"Awww, why not?" Katy held her hands at her hips, trying once again to give her friend the courage to do something. Anything. Anything at all to make her stop sulking over her situation, which she tended to do daily now. "You don't know...maybe..just maybe, something will happen?"

"What'll happen is nothing, Katy. You know that already.." Lammy gave a small sigh, throwing her crossword book into the trash, not feeling like finishing it. "And I'm fine just being friends with him. I mean, sure, it would be nice...but...no."

Katy frowned at her pessimistic response, seeing how she had failed yet again to change her mind on being silent about the matter. Hopefully another day things will change.. "Well...alright then Lammy. I won't push it any further." She went behind the counter Lammy was sitting at, setting down her purse in silence as the lamb rested her head on her hand, clicking a pen pointlessly.

A few minutes went by before Katy piped up with, "I'm sorry Lammy." She turned toward her, her ears down and her tail respectfully behind her. "I just want you to be happy is all. I don't like seeing you….like this..almost all the time."

She lifted her head up at this, instantly feeling horribly guilty at seeing she was responsible for her friend's sadness. Yet again. "N-no, please don't be sorry..I just…"

This always seemed to be a consistent thing with them. Lammy would be reminded of it all, and start feeling down..and then Katy would pick up on it and try to cheer her up, without much success..

Then they would both be upset. Over something she knew she shouldn't get upset about anyways. * _But it's not like I actively like doing this to myself, or to her..it just..happens sometimes…*_

Thankfully, she would always brighten up eventually again (which she always attributed to Katy's kind efforts), resulting in a slow yoyo-ing of emotions throughout the day.

She just hoped that someday, it wouldn't be like this anymore. Someday soon. Some day that would probably never come...

The cat gave a kind smile in response. "It's okay Lammy. I know what it feels like to be in your situation..I just never thought you would be having to deal with it too." The signature words she would often try to use to cheer her up. "Promise me you'll have fun at your jam session, at the very least?"

She smiled back at her. "I promise."

Katy stepped forward to give her friend a hug, gaining a sense of absolute joy at feeling her relax in her embrace.

Lammy then stepped away, and looked up at the clock, letting out a sigh of relief when it said _6:02_.

"Oof...finally! I gotta get going Katy." The lamb scrambled for her own purse, hurriedly fumbling around in it for her car keys.

Katy let out a small laugh watching her, asking mischievously, "Don't wanna be late for your date, do you?"

Lammy stuttered in her endeavor, giving her a forced laugh in response and retorting, "Ha ha, very funny." Finally grabbing them out of her purse, she shouted out over her back, "See you later Katy!" and sprinted out the door.

The cat watched her dear friend leave, waving at her as if she could still see. "Bye...Lammy…" She looked down at the pen she was holding, and grabbed it, clicking on it as well.

 _*Oh well...I just hope she's happy, at the very least. Because if she is, then I can be too.*_


	7. A Dog In Thought

PaRappa narrowly misses another pedestrian as he zips by on his skateboard, shouting out a quick apology over his shoulder before facing forward again.

He was wearing a gray tank-top, which had replaced his usual blue one, along with his now purple jeans that also replaced his blue ones. The beanie on his head was still his new heart one that he had adopted some time ago; a gift from someone special who always reminded him to believe.

Today happens to be the day of the week when he, PJ and Lammy would have another jam session. * _I definitely need it too...nothing like trying to blow everyone out of the water to blow off some steam.*_ (Planning new concerts where you're trying to make it out in the big big world was incredibly stressful.)

 _*Kinda sad that Sunny said no again though…*_

He was always trying to invite her to each little session, and always feeling a bit frustrated when she declined for the umpteenth time. Now it was just another part of the routine; get your stuff ready, text her, get turned down again, and then head over.

It was really unfortunate too...he was sure that if she would ever go to one, he would completely wow her...and then…

Then she would finally be his.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the phone in his pocket ringing loudly, causing him to slow down and take it out. He slid the button and brought it up to his ear, keeping his eyes on the ground before him."Yo."

"* _Hey, where are you right now?*"_ A drowsy voice crackled out from the other side of the line, and he heard it yawn before answering it back.

"I'm on my way...why? Something wrong?"

"* _Oh, no, not really. Just wanted to know if you could pick up something for me. I'm getting really hungry..*"_

The dog let out an exasperated groan, growling out, "PJ, I don't have any money on me. And it's your house! Go inside and make something."

"* _Hhhrrrnnngg….I don't wanna…*"_

"Oh come on! It's like..two steps! I bet you just ate a few minutes ago too, so what are you complaining about?"

There was a short silence on the phone, until the voice grumpily answered, "* _So what if I did? I'm still hungry.*_ "

His friend PJ still had his huge appetite and strange sleeping habits, which had probably doubled in intensity thanks to him being a young adult now. But of course, it was understandable for a big guy such as himself; he was arguably the tallest out of all of them now. He towered over his best friend, PaRappa, who had grown as well, but was still quite short compared to everyone else.

He..tried not to think about it too much. Obsessing over how tall he was was the least of his worries.

Shaking his head, PaRappa grumbled out, "Look, I'm just a few minutes away, so I'll talk to you when I get there."

"* _Alright. Bye.*"_

"Yeah, bye."

He clicked the red button and shoved the phone back into his pocket, thinking once again on how Sunny said no to him.

Usually, he wouldn't be thinking about it so much...but it actually mattered this time. It mattered immensely…

It mattered since she was moving out of state soon.

PaRappa scowled as he focused on the ground before him, bringing the question up in his mind again.

 _*I don't get why she said no this time though...she's leaving soon, and she's acting like she's just gonna be going to a friends house for the night…*_

She was incredibly nonchalant about the entire situation. He remembered how she told the news at the table they would always sit at, just casually bringing it up as if it was something so simple. Sunny was the one who seemed to be concerned with her friends the least nowadays; she had been incredibly eager to go out into the world and experience it for a while now.

Eager enough to already say her half-hearted goodbyes to everyone and drop it, just like that.

"Hey, PaRappa!"

He was brought out of his thoughts as he looked up to see a bumbling bear walking towards him, the sunglasses on his head shining in the sunlight. "About time you got here."

The dog looked at him, slightly confused. "Oh..I'm here already?" He glanced behind the large bear now in front of him, and sure enough, there was the garage.

PJ gave scoff at him, asking, "Did someone carry you here? Let's go already; I got a new vinyl I've been wanting to try out."

PaRappa shrugged it off, reminding himself that he was so deep in thought that of course the time would go by quickly. He noticed his gargantuan friend still hadn't sown up the tear on his foot, but ignored it and looked towards the garage they were headed to, and asked him, "Is Lammy here yet?"

"Well duh. She got here a bit ago and was practicing for a bit." Sure enough, a short riff was played out, with a quiet huff of frustration being made after it. "And hold on - you really thought she wouldn't be here man?"

The dog shrugged, grumbling out, "I dunno. I didn't see her, so I thought…"

PJ let out a small chuckle, saying, "She's usually always the first one here dummy. I don't even think she missed out on a session yet…"

They both looked inside the garage, now being close enough to fully see inside of it. Sure enough, there she was, her back towards them as she fumbled with something in her hands.

PaRappa barked out, "Hey Lammy!"

She jolted at his voice, and hastily turned around to face them. A capo was in her hands, looking a little bent. "O-oh, hey you guys! I-I was just..um…" She looked down toward the object in her hands, and back up at them with a sheepish smile. "Heh...I might've bent my capo a little...I-I didn't even know it could do that…"

The dog laughed a little at her stuttering, and walked over to her. "Maybe I can fix it?" He held out his hand, hoping to be able to help.

She nervously glanced at his paw, and slowly placed it in his hand, wringing her own hands together nervously as she watched him fumble with it.

A bit ways away, PJ stood there watching them, smiling as he saw that PaRappa had offered to help. Funny thing is, he probably wouldn't be able to if Lammy couldn't.

Sure enough, after letting out a few pained whines, he gave up, and handed it back to her. "Eh..sorry. I couldn't really…"

He watched in amazement as Lammy held it between her hands tightly and bended it back into its correct shape. She noticed him staring at her in amazement, and mumbled out, "I-I'm a lot stronger than I look, you know…"

PaRappa gave out a small huff, grumbling, "Yeah well...I might've loosened it for you…"

Lammy laughed at him, and grabbed her guitar, saying confidently, "C'mon, let's get playing already. I've been practicing this new riff and I want you to let me know what you think."

"Oh yeah..is that the one we heard you mess up on earlier?"

"Yu- oh, shut up! I'll show you…" She assuredly threw the guitar strap around her shoulders, and set the now fixed capo in the middle of the guitar's neck. "You ready?"

He hooked in his microphone to the amp next to him, which he was now leaning against. "Sure. Wow me, princess."

She snickered at the dumb nickname he knew she absolutely hated being called, and waited for PJ to start the beat, hoping to really blow him out of the water this time.


	8. PJ's Dillemma

PJ watched as PaRappa and Lammy said their goodbyes to each other, with Lammy slinging her guitar case over her back and walking down the sidewalk.

The jam session this time around had turned into an absolute duel again - after Lammy tried her riff out on him, PaRappa just turned around and starting belting along with her playing. Of course, they failed to outdo each other again...there still wasn't a clear winner.

Not that it mattered too much, hopefully. Even if one of them became triumphant, he was sure that they would still set up these little sessions. And the loser would try that much harder to gain their honor back...

He can already feel the throbbing headache coming on thinking about it.

The bear gazed over at his canine friend, who watched her for a few moments before heading inside the garage, reaching for the microphone that was still hooked into its speaker.

He's known of Lammy's crush on PaRappa for a few years now...ever since Katy had told him sometime after their concert. Out of respect, he decided not to tell him; just like he promised not to tell Sunny about PaRappa's thing for her. And if he was honest about it? It frustrated him. A lot.

It frustrated him since PaRappa was too dumb to see it. Too dumb to see there was a girl for him instead of Sunny - who had shown several times that she wasn't interested. Who was even getting ready to leave soon.

But of course, his best friend happened to be more obvlious than a dump truck; unless someone would specifically draw it out in crayon for him, he wasn't gonna get it.

And of course, Lammy wasn't exactly the type to do that sort of thing. Ever. Not even if she held all the guitars in the world.

It frustrated him even more when he would catch her gazing at him a little too long, or when she would wince slightly at his mentions of Sunny. It was too easy to see; weren't dogs able to pick up on these sort of things easily? How could he not tell by now?

"Hey, PJ." The dog had put away the equipment, having set back all the speakers to their original spots; the only request PJ had for him in order to use his garage. "Isn't it weird how Sunny is just so..nonchalant about leaving?"

 _*Here we go again_.*

"PaRappa, this is like the 5th time you brought it up. Yes, it's weird. Yeah, it hurts that she's so distant about it. Does it matter? No. Because she's gonna been gone in about a month." * _Good riddance…*_

He himself was already over it by now - Sunny had been acting strange for the recent months, and he's already made peace with the fact that she simply wasn't part of their little group anymore. Some people just tend to move on from certain events in their lives..and certain people too.

Of course, PaRappa wasn't taking it anywhere near as well as he was. He was still incredibly hung up about it…

"I know...but it just ain't right! Since I thought we were all friends, we were still gonna stay here in PaRappa Town...and everything would be…be….." The dog started staring off into space, possibly a huge crisis of emotions flowing through his mind.

 _*Great.*_ If he wasn't careful, he might just break down right here, in front of him. It's happened once before; he poked and prodded too much at his delicate feelings and accidently made the dam break. It took nearly an hour for the poor pup to be consoled...

 _*I'd really rather not have that happen again…*_

PJ scanned the room for something to distract his friend with and saw a lone guitar pick on the floor, its reflective surface catching the rays of the setting sun. Taking a small inhale, he decided to try and bring the topic up again. "Hey...uh, PaRappa."

The dog shook his head a bit, and looked over at him. "What?"

"So uh...you and Lammy seem to get along really well."

PaRappa just turned away again, and began messing with the microphone in his hands. "Yeah. What are you getting at PJ?"

"Well now, I was just thinking for a moment..maybe it wouldn't be too bad if you two-"

"No."

PJ gave an irritated grumble at this. "Well why not?…" This was not going good already. Record time too.

He's been trying to convince his friend for a few too many times now to actually do something with Lammy outside of a jam session for once; something other than half an hour texting conversation with each other. Or just the gang all together. They needed time by themselves to start anything.

Not just because he thought the two would make a great pair, but because he knew it would be good for him. Good for him to stop obsessing over Sunny...who honestly, wasn't even all that great. Especially now, with how she's been treating the people he thought she considered her friends.

He just needed to say yes, is all, and then maybe he could see for himself.

"PJ, we went over this a million times. No. She might end up getting the wrong idea, or something...I don't want her to think I like her, or anything like that. It would end up being really weird…"

 _*Trust me, she already knows you don't.*_

The DJ shook his head, and picked up a vinyl cover, fumbling with it and trying to think of the correct words to say. "I just really think you need something..or someone else, to take your mind off of Sunny, is all. It isn't healthy to obsess like this. I'm worried about you man.."

PaRappa gave him a skeptical look, causing PJ to question his obvious wording. * _Shoot..why did I have to say it like that?*_

Thankfully, he didn't seem to think much of it, and just muttered, "No PJ. End of conversation." He turned away from his friend once again, wrapping the microphone in his hands up.

Usually, PJ would just casually accept defeat again, not wanting to start an argument. But he's had enough of it all. Enough of his friend's stubbornness over the entire matter, and enough of having to go through another painful jam session of Lammy looking terrible afterwards.

"Look dude, plain and simple; you're being really selfish, thinking like this. You know that?"

The dog froze in his steps, and slowly turned towards him. "..what?" Surprisingly, he didn't sound angry at all. Just really caught off guard by this.

Using this opportunity as a chance to go on, he said, "Yeah. You are. I'm thinking maybe you should do stuff with her, since you're both friends and it would be a good change of pace, and you're here going on about how you don't want her to think the wrong thing. Putting your own self above others, but in a really bad way. You ever consider she might just wanna hang out, and not be about that stuff?"

A risky thing to mention, sure, but it was needed to try and get him to agree. He would deal with the repercussions later.

PaRappa looked down at his shoes. "Well...I guess I never thought of it like that."

 _*Did I seriously get through to him this time?*_ PJ smiled at his friend, and continued. "Doesn't have to be anything all that special. Heck, I could come with to stop anything happening if you really want me to." Truth was, he desperately wanted to avoid being the third wheel if they would ever actually do something; but desperate times call for desperate measures. And he just needs to seal the deal with him…

To his utter relief, PaRappa grinned at him and said, "Alright PJ. Why not?"

The bear hid his newfound enthusiasm with a small yawn, trying to pass off any energy as drowsiness. "Awesome. Keep me updated on when you're able to do things - and ask Lammy first...since she has to work, and all that."

"Yeah, I will." He gave him a smile and picked up his skateboard, ready to head back to his house. "Anyways, I'm gonna get going...it's getting late. See ya later PJ."

"Hm? Oh. Bye PaRappa." The sun had dipped down behind the horizon, a full moon lighting up the sky in its place. His friend went off on his way, expertly weaving through the sidewalk.

PJ watched him go, and turned to his mess he now had to clean up by himself. The reason why they had to fix everything was so that he didn't have to do it; he had enough to do himself.

As he went to work, feeling a bit more energized as the night went on, he couldn't help but think over at how he successfully made progress today.

 _*Convince PaRappa to finally agree with me? Check._

 _Make sure everything goes well on their little get together? That's the next step._

 _I might have to get Katy's help on this one…*_


	9. After MilkCan Practice

"Woo! Nothing like a relaxing get together after practice, huh?! WOO!"

"(Maybe tone it down a bit, Katy?)"

"Oh, sorry. Guess I'm still really pumped up; I just can't help it though!"

"(I knew it was a mistake giving you that energy drink.)"

"How about you Lammy? Aren't you just - so - super excited?!"

"..."

"..Lammy?"

"Oh, geez...Y-yeah, I'm excited too! Heh…"

It was the routine to stop and get some smoothies after the biweekly MilkCan practice - Katy insisted after the first one to start this instead of anything unhealthy, saying it would help them 'remember everything better'. Since then, it's become a staple part of their get togethers.

Of course, it definitely did help them feel better. They always gave their best at their practices, and it always resulted in them having spent all their energy.

Unless one of them always happened to have some form of energy left after it all, and drank a bit of an energy drink on top of it. Such as what happened today.

The blue cat sat down heavily next to her shy friend, saying, "You haven't even touched your drink Lammy! Something on your mind?"

Lammy just shrugged, and drank a small bit of her smoothie before responding. "Not really..just the normal stuff. I guess I'm kinda in a spacey mood today…"

She scowled slightly as another pang of excitement distracted her, her thoughts focusing on a certain someone…* _ugh. Can't I just be able to relax without thinking about him?_

…

 _Apparently not…*_

Katy gave a mischievous smile to her, feeling a bit delirious and wanting to joke around. "Ooohhhhhh...I seeee...y'know what that means Ma-San!"

"(Uh-huh.)" The mouse finished her drink and tossed it into the nearby trash, not paying much mind when the lid of it fell onto the ground. "(So, talking about that - you ever planning on doing something besides moping around Lammy?)"

Before the lamb could ask her to clarify, her friend spoke for her, shouting out, "As if! I don't think she's gonna ever do anything, to be honest…" She looked down at her with a smirk, and got up from her seat. "Which is a total shame...you better act now before something happens, and you won't be able to!"

Feeling her face burn a little when she realized what they were talking about, Lammy asked them worriedly, "W-what? Like what?" She set her drink down, feeling too nervous to drink it now.

"Oh, I don't know...someone else comes along? Point is, everyone knows patience is a virtue and all that, but you shouldn't wait * _too long*_ \- you just gotta grab something by the horns sometimes! Go for broke!"

A blue cat set a bold hand on Ma-San's shoulder. "Right Ma-San?"

The mouse shrugged off her hand and simply nodded. "I hate to say it Lammy...but I agree with her. Time waits for no one, you just might as well go for it. What have you got to lose?"

Lammy looked down into her lap, her hands wringing each other. * _Well*…_ "It doesn't really matter you guys. You know how it is already. And I'm fine - c-can we talk about something else please?"

Ma-San stood up from her seat now, the small bundle of dynamite on her head starting to spark. "No. You listen here; I am tired of seeing you stand by, doing nothing. It is tiring! See here," The mouse relaxed her tense stance, setting her hands on her hips. "Simply ask him if he wishes to do something with you."

"* _W-what?!*_ " Now she was the one who shot up from her seat, waving her hands around frantically in a fit of anxiousness. "* _I can't do that!*_ "

"You can and you will!"

"( _Ma-San, hold on a moment!)_ " A blue cat came over and set a calming hand on her smaller friend's back, hoping to pacify her. She looked at Lammy with a relaxed smile, feeling her recent rush beginning to fade."Well now, it doesn't have to be anything big at all! Just go to a movie together or something."

"B-but…* _alone with him?!*_ " It was a bit too much to handle the idea of simply being alone with PaRappa, and no one else around to share some of the attention with her. What were they even going to do? What were they going to talk about? She can already foresee a horribly tense moment coming up between them… * _I feel sick to my stomach now*…_ "I-I gotta sit down…"

"Whoa, Lammy! Relax! You're not doing anything yet silly!".She sat next down to her hyperventilating friend and put a reassuring arm around her shoulders. "Nothing big, like we said! Plus..I can come along too if you want. Since I know it might be weird, just the two of you…"

Feeling her heartbeat slow down into a semi-reasonable range, Lammy stuttered out, "A-are you sure?"

"Of course! Maybe after a few little get togethers, you'll be able to relax and not think too much of it." For right now at least...maybe she can find a convenient reason to leave them alone at some point..or two..

Or just leave altogether and see what happens.

…

Nah, that's a bit too far. Just once is fine enough.

"W-well...o-okay. Okay! If you're there, it won't be so bad...what about you M-"

"Nope! I refuse to come along. Less is better, in this case." The mouse gave a small smile to her two friends, and waved a hand towards Lammy. "So, ask him already!"

"W-what? H..oh. Okay, I guess I will…"

Taking her phone out, she nervously swiped across a few screens to stare at the messaging screen with his name on it.

Lammy gave a nervous look to her friend, who simply responded with a light-hearted, "Don't worry, you can do it! Leave it to Lammy, right?"

The shaking lamb just gave a half-hearted smile at her little slogan, still not feeling any better, but appreciating her optimism.

 _*Well...this is it. I'm gonna do it...I'm gonna...huh?*_

At that moment, a new message from PaRappa had appeared directly on her screen. -Hey Lammy-

After a few moments she gave a nervous gulp and typed back to it.

-Hey! Whatcha up to?-

-Not much- -Just wanted to ask if you and Katy wanted to do something tomorrow with me and PJ- -Planning on going to the movies-

…

 _..*what?*_

She froze seeing this, feeling her heart nearly stop as she struggled to catch a breath.

…* _what? This is new..when has he ever wanted to do anything outside of a jam session?*_

"Lammy?" Katy shook her friend's shoulder slightly, a bit caught off guard by her sudden stillness. "You do it yet?"

The lamb cleared her throat, and started typing out a response, saying softly, "N-not yet."

-Sure! Sounds great!-

She patiently awaited a reply, and nervously swiped her phone to see he had sent one back soon after.

-Cool- -See you then-

Lammy stared at her phone, completely speechless, until Katy shouted out, "So?! What happened?

The lamb glanced up at her and then suddenly looked away, muttering out, "* _I think I'm gonna be sick is what happened*…_ "

Katy hugged her friend suddenly, squealing out, "Oh my gosh! You did it?! He said yes?!"

"* _K-Katy*.._ "

"(KATY. You better listen to her…)"

"Oh! Sorry Lammy!" She let go of her, giving her a bit of space as she doubled over slightly.

After a moment went by, the nervous lamb sat up and gave her two friends a shy smile.

Katy shook in her seat, her tail whipping around excitedly. "So? What happened?"

Ma-San was also leaning forward in her seat. "(Tell us!)"

Lammy wrung her hands together, feeling a bit shaken from the entire event that had happened. "W-well...I was going to do it...but he did first?"

They both stared at her confusingly, and she went on. "T-that's what happened! He asked if Katy and I wanted to do something with him and PJ just now…so it's gonna happen soon!"

It was so weird. Sure, she's done stuff with PaRappa before, but that was when all of their friends were there; including Sunny, who of course, would be the main person PaRappa paid attention to.

This..was the first time they were going to do something without the supposedly perfect flower girl there.

So now she has a chance. It was a small chance though.

Very small. Very, very , in fact.

Who was she kidding? A * _miniscule*_ chance…borderline microscopic.

But it was still a chance nonetheless.

Nervously clearing her throat, the lamb quietly mumbled nonsense to herself before asking aloud, "Do...do you guys think something could happen? Just...maybe?" She gave them a hopeful look, wondering what their responses would be.

Ma-San and Katy glanced at each other before the blue cat shouted out, "Of course I think so!" She sprung out of her chair and held Lammy in the biggest hug she could muster. "Just wait! You guys are gonna fall in love, and then you're gonna get married and I'll be the maid of honor, and then you're gonna have so many babies and I'll be the aunt that takes care of them while you go on your honeymoons, and then-"

She stopped in her frantic daydream when she finally noticed Lammy giving her a mortified look. Ma-San shook her head at Katy's overwhelming enthusiasm; nothing like freaking out the girl that was ready to barf from sheer nervousness just a moment ago.

The cat let go of her friend, and hurriedly stepped back a few steps. "U-uh, I mean...yeah, why not? Things have the possibility of lining up just right, and in that case-" She shrugged, "Well, who knows? Only you can influence the outcome if you really try, in this case."

The mouse sitting across the table gave a knowing nod. "Either way, you should not think about all of that yet; all you will manage to do is scare yourself. Just have a good time! Worry about that later."

Lammy gave a beaming smile to her friends' wise words, feeling incredibly inspired thanks to them. "W-well...okay! T-that's just what I'll do then!" Of course, much easier said than done…

She just has to relax… _again. Easier said than done._

But still, even through how terrified she was..she couldn't help but feel incredibly elated.

 _This is really happening…_

 _I can't believe it!_


	10. A Down Dog

The car lets out a small squeak as it slows to a halt, with it eventually becoming silent as the ignition is shut off by the driver.

Said mentioned driver grumpily sets his head on the steering wheel, letting out a quiet grumble when his gargantuan best friend elbows him softly, trying to get his attention.

"Eeeyy PaRappa, you excited for the movie?"

"Hck. Sure."

"...you don't sound too excited at all man. Something bugging you?" Looking down at himself and seeing all the leftover crumbs, he quietly asked, "Should I have drove us here?"

"No, it's not that…"

PJ frowned at him. * _Don't tell me...it was-*_

"I tried to see if Sunny wanted to come along with us."

 _*Yup, there it is.*_

"But she said no…"

The bear rolled his eyes, and let off a nonchalant shrug. "Nothing new about that. Why are you so hung up about it?"

 _*Seriously.*_ Thankfully she didn't...otherwise this entire little plan would have been for naught.

"Because she's leaving in a week PJ. A * _week*._ I just thought, maybe she would want to spend some time with her friends before she left town, especially since it's been a long while since we've all done something like this together...but I guess not." Gripping the steering wheel tighter, he quietly seethed out, "..she even told me that it would be better if we didn't stay in touch. What's that supposed to even mean?"

His friend raised his eyebrows at this, feeling incredibly irked at this newfound information. * _She actually said that to him? No wonder he's in a bad mood.*_ It even made him upset and he wasn't the one told all that.

"You know what man? That goes to show how much of a true friend she is. C'mon. We can have a good time without her." He got out of the car and slammed the door, wincing when he noticed how hard he shut it.

 _*Yikes...gotta watch my temper.*_

Taking a deep breath in to relax himself, he looked over his shoulder to see PaRappa still slouching in his seat.

He walked over to the driver side of the car and knocked on the door. The dog begrudgingly cranked the window down and gazed up at his friend with a sullen face.

"PaRappa?" It tore at his heart to see his best friend so down…

 _*I just want the old him back.*_

"Hey...it'll be alri-"

"No. Don't say that. It's not gonna 'be alright', like you always say." The car let out a loud honk when he bumped his head down onto the steering wheel, making PJ flinch. "..I don't even wanna be here now...I was honestly looking forward to this for a while, but now I just wanna go home. Stupid, stupid…" He started hitting his head softly against the wheel while mumbling out his degrading mantra.

PJ watched him do so for a few moments until he opened the door and unhooked his seatbelt for him. "Stop saying that. You aren't stupid."

"Yes I am."

"I said to stop." He gently pulled him out of the car, being careful to not hurt him. "Come on. Out of the car."

PJ helped him step out the car, and locked it for him, dropping the keys into PaRappa's hand after he did; he simply leaned against it grumpily, his arms folded across his chest.

"PaRappa. You shouldn't let things get to you so easily…"

"Meh." He looked away, still not budging from his spot.

"We're gonna have a good time, no matter what." They stood in silence for a moment, until PJ said out loud, "Since after all, 'if you got a problem, whatcha gonna do?'"

He watched as his friend's ears perked up slightly, and glanced up at him with a hopeful look.

The bear spoke louder this time. "I said, 'if you got a problem, whatcha gonna do?'"

PaRappa chuckled and mumbled back, "'Like PaRappa, you gotta believe.'"

"What was that? I couldn't hear you."

The rapper gave off a beaming smile, feeling slightly better as he hopped away from the car. "'Like PaRappa, you gotta believe!'"

PJ couldn't help but let out a small laugh at seeing some semblance of his old friend back. "There you go!" He walked over and gave him a one armed hug (which was plenty enough, thanks to PaRappa having such a scrawny frame compared to him). "See? It'll be great; just you, me, Katy, and Lammy."

His canine friend smiled at him, trying to force himself to see the bright side of it all. Sure, he seriously didn't feel all too well..but maybe he's right. Maybe this is just the thing he needs to get his mind off of things for now.

He just has to believe it'll be alright.


	11. Katy and PJ

"PJ!"

"Hey Katy. How are y-"

"* _Why didn't you tell me you finally got him to say yes?!*_ "

"Oh yeah...that was the thing i forgot to tell you. Sorry."

"I swear...okay, it doesn't matter. Not right now at least. We gotta make sure everything goes _perfectly_ on their date!"

"It isn't a date though."

"YES IT IS!"

Katy had run up far ahead from Lammy in an excuse to 'see if their friends were there yet'. Of course, they were, but she had to catch up with PJ (who walked ahead of PaRappa, who was still lagging behind) to discuss the entire subject they were here for.

PJ had no idea where she manages to get all her energy from. They walked all the way from Lammy's house; he knows he for sure wouldn't be able to walk all that way. But then again, he isn't exactly the most well fit of them all either...

"I can't believe you were the one that managed to do it first..i really thought I would have gotten through to her eventually." The disgruntled feline shoveled out a massive wad of bills from from her purse, and set them into the oversized paw before her.

The bear just gave a small chuckle in response. "Hey, if I gotta do something, I can get it done easily. I just don't feel like it most of the time."

 _Well...most is an understatement, I guess._

Ma-San of course was the one who suggested they make this into a bet in the first place, many many years ago. They were skeptical at first, but eventually gave in to their competitive spirit and went along with it. It ended up getting out of hand with how much money they had put up…

"Well, whatever. I don't really care much about the money anyways." PJ rolled his eyes at her. Of course she wouldn't. It wasn't like both her position at work and the MilkCan concerts left her without a fair bit of extra cash.

"Yeah yeah, I know. I feel the same way, believe it or not." DJing definitely has its benefits sometimes. "So…" He looked behind her to see the two in question talking to each other; Lammy as nervous as ever and PaRappa blissfully (albeit grumpily) unaware of the situation. "How are we going to do this?"

Katy turned her head slightly to eye the two, then began swishing her tail thoughtfully. "Hmmmm…"

Just then, PaRappa looked over their way and shouted out, "Hey, you guys!"

PJ calmly made his way over as he noticed Katy wincing slightly. How are they going to figure this out?

The massive bear waved at his two friends, hiding his apprehension under a mask of drowsiness. "Hey. Nice to see you Lammy."

"Mm..yeah, y-you too…" The lamb stood and shivered slightly, taking a step away from the dog standing next to her.

PJ gave a quick glance to Katy, who in turn noticed and ran over, encasing the two in a tight hug. "I'm sooo happy to see you guys here! It'll be just like old times, huh? Well, sort of, at least!"

PaRappa squirmed under her grasp, whereas Lammy looked as if she was struggling to remember how to breathe under hers.

"KATY. Could you not?" He tried to weasel out of her grasp, obviously irritated.

"Alright, relax! What's with you today?"

The dog set his back to her and simply walked over to PJ's side in a huff. "..nothing. C'mon PJ, let's get going. We'll miss the movie at this rate."

"Er..alright. Just a moment." The DJ motioned for him to start walking without him, and then spoke softly to Katy and Lammy, "Sorry. He's a bit grumpy today...because of Su- uhhh, I mean..reasons. Because of reasons. Yeah." He stood for a moment, fidgeting, then turned around and waved for the girls to follow him.

Lammy rose a skeptical eyebrow at this, wondering what he could mean by that.

Meanwhile, the cat next to her was beaming with excitement, not taking into mind this slight obtrusion. * _Yess! Now we just have to make sure everything goes right from here on out!*_

The four friends entered the room they had been given tickets to, taking a moment to glance at the big screen ahead of them.

The room was dimly lit, with the front wall covered with large movie screen that was showing a commercial right then. To their left was a large wall that served as a support for the many seats to choose from. A small bout of chatter could be heard from the few patrons that have sat down already.

After a short second, Katy grabbed PJ's arm and ran up ahead, quietly shouting out, "We'll go find seats for all of us! You two wait here!"

Turning the corner, PJ held onto Katy's shoulder for support, not expecting the sudden movement. "You gotta warn me when we're gonna run around like that…"

"Oh, hush! It was only for like, two seconds." The cat gave a wary glance at the choice of seats, and found the perfect spot of 4. "Ah! Perfect! C'mon!"

She held onto the bear's arm again and headed up the stairs into the seats, pointing at the far one. "Sit down here. PaRappa will sit next to you, and then I'll sit in this one right here. Knowing Lammy, she'll probably sit on the farthest seat away, so we gotta help her."

"Ahh, i get what you're cooking. Good thinking." He gave a thumbs up to her.

She turned on her heel and went back to get her two other friends, who were chatting to pass the time.

Or at least attempting to. PaRappa didn't seem too happy at the moment, and Lammy was stuttering a bit too much with her words to understand much of what she was saying.

 _*Oh, what am I going to do with these two?*_

"Hey, we found the perfect seats for all us. C'mon!"

PaRappa stood for a moment before begrudgingly moving up ahead, where Katy saw this as a chance to console Lammy.

She walked over to her side, giving a wary smile to her. "Hey, everything's okay! Thing's are going great so far, aren't they?"

"W-well..I guess so...it just...just.."

"..something wrong, Lammy?" Katy twitched an ear impatiently, worrying she had already done something to upset her.

But it wasn't her that did it. "N-no..it just...PaRappa doesn't look too happy to be here...am I..?" She brought her arms across her stomach, showing she wasn't very comfortable with the situation at all.

"Oh no! No no, you didn't do anything wrong Lammy! He's happy you're here! He's just..going through something right now is all."

"H-he is? Like what?"

Katy twitched her tail, wondering how to word it. She didn't want to make her upset, especially not right now. "Oh..personal stuff. PJ didn't go into much detail about it. But I'm sure if he took his mind off it and we all support him, he'll start feeling better."

Thankfully Lammy didn't prod much more than this. She simply muttered, "Oh. O-okay then...I guess I should try and be happy then too?"

Katy gave her a cheerful smile and said, "Yup! That'll be sure to help a lot! Now c'mon, the movie is gonna start soon!"

She grabbed her hand and led her up the stairs, and saw that PaRappa had taken his seat next to PJ; just as planned.

The bear gave a wink to her, to where she winked back and stood aside for her friend to enter first. "Lammy, why don't you sit down next? I insist!"

Taking this gesture as a normal bout of kindness from her, she nervously replied, "O-oh, okay! Thank you Katy-!" The lamb stuttered for a moment when she saw who she was supposed to sit next to.

Katy noticed her hesitation and walked in behind her, quietly whispering, "Don't worry about it! Be happy and he will be too! Remember?"

She gave a shaky nod and took her seat with her friend's words in mind, nervously wringing her hands together.

The cat watched as Lammy gave a nervous smile to the dog sitting next to her, who after a moment, returned a small smile back.

 _*Perfect! Things are going great so far!*_

Lammy squirmed slightly as she kept her eyes glued to the screen, not daring to move them anywhere else.

 _*How did I even manage to end up here?_ _Sitting right next to him, here..why did I even agree to this*…_

Starting to lose interest in the movie, she gave a quick glance to her side, eyeing the dog sitting next to her.

He was slouching in his seat, appearing moderately interested in what was happening on the screen.

The truth was, a tense storm of thoughts was swarming the dog's mind, preventing him from being able to focus all too well on what was happening on the screen.

He hated feeling like this. It didn't feel natural at all to be steaming with anger...but how else could he feel? Again, Sunny said no. And again, he felt so..torn up about it.

Because as much as be hated to admit it - PJ was right. It was inevitable; she was going to move away, no matter what he could say or do.

But he was never one for giving up, regardless of the circumstances. It was just incredibly hard sometimes. It was difficult to persevere...especially when it looks like you won't win in the end.

PaRappa let out a soft sigh, causing the lamb to finally turn her head towards him, his upsetting aura starting to affect her too.

 _*He looks so sad._

 _Should I..say something?*_

She opened her to mouth to try and say something reassuring, when PJ rose up from his seat, muttering something along the lines of, "I'll be right back. Gotta get something I forgot."

"Oh crap, so did I! We'll be right back you guys." Katy leaned closer to Lammy, whispering, "* _You two lovebirds behave while we're gone!*_ "

The lamb shook her head at her friend, quietly sputtering out, "*Katy! It's not even-*"

"*I'm just kidding, you dork.*" Her feline friend smiled at her, and set a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "*But while we're gone...this'll be the perfect time to try something. Anything at all.*" She winked at her, and began walking away. "At least consider it!"

Lammy nodded at her, suddenly feeling very cramped in the seat she was in. "M..maybe. We'll see."

She took a quick glance at her opposite side, noticing how PaRappa was looking quite drowsy, his eyes beginning to droop.

He softly shook his head, trying to fight back against it. * _What the heck...why am I so..tired*…._

Maybe it had to do something with the fact that he hadn't been able to sleep very well last night, on account of the conversation with Sunny. Or maybe he just needed a nap. Who knows?

Either way, he could feel himself starting to slip away…

 _*No….have to*…..._

Lammy continued watching the screen, not very invested to what was happening, until she suddenly felt something very warm on her shoulder.

She alarmingly looked over at PaRappa, who had drifted off to sleep. His head had lolled off to the side...which happened to be resting on her shoulder.

From far away, a cat and a teddy bear were sitting in new seats, aiming to be back enough so that they wouldn't be spotted. The feline wanted to practically scream out in excitement, but decided to settle for a quiet shout.

"Aaaaaah!"

"SSSHHH!" A random patron hissed at her, making her shrink down.

"..aaah….."

She gave a cautious look around before shaking PJ's shoulder, trying her best to keep her voice lowered. "Look! Look look look look!"

"Yeah yeah, I, uh, see." The bear took off her hand gingerly, wincing slightly at her unsheathed claws.. "Try not to get us kicked out of here.…"

"Okay, but...we CAN'T bother them now. You don't mind if we stay over here, do you?"

"Well...you got the snacks?"

Katy reached into her purse and pulled out a small bag of chips. "You really think I wouldn't have brought any with you around?"

Back near the front of the theatre, Lammy felt as if her shoulder was completely on fire. She wasn't able to focus on the movie at all at this point. * _This can't be happening…what the heck do I even do?*_

She couldn't bother to think straight at the moment. All of her thoughts were an incomprehensible mess as she attempted to remember how to breathe.

This has never happened to her before. To think she's always wanted something like this to happen...but now that she's finally in the situation, she can't even handle it!

 _*I can't*.._

She tried to look over at him, being careful not to move too much so that he wouldn't wake up. That's the last thing she wanted to happen right now...she didn't want to be confronted about it, trying to stumble across a reason while he questioned her dejectedly - (even though he didn't seem like the type of person to do that. He would probably just laugh it off, not paying any mind at all….but still.)

And of course, despite how much she was trying to avoid hyperventilating, she was actually enjoying it. The guy she's had a crush on since meeting him...here right next to ….

The rapper seemed to have fallen into a very deep sleep. He mumbled something incomprehensible, raising a paw to adjust his misaligned hat and then nestling himself against her.

Lammy couldn't help but let out a nervous snicker at herself, and the situation she was now in.

 _*I...guess this really is happening. Wow*._

She gazed around herself, noticing that it's been a bit since PJ and Katy left. Where could they be at? And how would she be able to explain this to them?

..* _oh well….I guess*.._ There wasn't really much use of worrying at this point. What was she gonna do? Shove him away when all he wanted was to take a quick nap? Sure, she could do that...but she really didn't want to.

Taking in a deep breath, she tried her best to relax, feeling herself start to become drowsy as well.

PaRappa opened his eyes to see the room now fully illuminated, the screen at the front of it blank. He rose up from his spot, rubbing his eyes drowsily. * _Aw shoot...did I fall asleep?*_

.. _*when did that even happen?*_

Oh well..at least he felt better than earlier. Maybe he was just irritable from losing out on sleep.

He looked to his side to see a seemingly disgruntled Lammy hurriedly get up from her seat. She had a bit of a disoriented look on her face, stumbling for a moment as she tried to regain her footing.

"Whoa, Lammy, where's the fire?" He let out a small chuckle, his bad mood disappaiting.

She didn't respond except for a nervous titter, walking quickly out of the aisle and awkwardly sidestepping PJ.

He walked over to where PaRappa sat, not paying too much attention to her rush. "Hey there. Have a good nap?"

"Ehm..is something wrong with Lammy?" He couldn't help but feel a bit worried...did he do something wrong?

"Oh, she's fine. Better than ever, to be honest."

 _*What?*_ "Really? What makes you say that?"

His towering friend gave a shrug, smirking slightly. "I can just tell...ask Katy if you don't believe me."

PaRappa rose an eyebrow at this, but didn't ask further, not wanting to be even more confused than he is now. He noticed a few of the employees waiting at the entrance, all of them either on their phones or checking their watches. "Alright, let's get out of here."

The friends were walking through the maze of carpeted halls in the theatre, albeit a bit slowly as they began chatting to one another.

"Woo! That was a great movie, huh?" Katy elbowed PJ, a devious smile on her face. "All those plot twists..really forced you to stay * _ahead*_ of the game, huh?"

The bear chuckled at this. "You can say that again...you had to be careful not to * _lose your head_ * over it all.."

They started laughing together at this point; Lammy rolled her eyes at the two, shoving her hands into her pockets. She ended up falling asleep during the movie as well...they probably poked fun at her when they were out, making her feel embarrassed over it all.

PaRappa simply gave a nonchalant nod at their smalltalk, not able to remember much at all, whether it was about the movie or what had happened. He felt like he was in a pleasantly cheerful mood now, so it didn't matter too much.

Katy then gazed up at PJ, blinking a few times to get his attention. She mouthed the words, 'I think we should give them a bit of privacy now. What about you?'

PJ thought carefully for a moment before mouthing back, 'Alright. How do we do that though?'

The duo simply squinted at each other until Katy suddenly slapped the popcorn bucket out of PJ's hand, all the kernals and crumbs falling everywhere.

"Ah! My popcorn! Katy-"

"Oh no! PJ, you dropped your popcorn!"

"You're-"

"C'mon, I know how much you like theater popcorn, let's go back through again and get you a new one! It might take a while because of the long line there, so Lammy and PaRappa should just wait outside!"

"...yeah. Yeah, you two should just wait out there! Go for a walk or something, it's a nice day outside."

The two in question stood for a few moments before PaRappa shrugged and mumbled, "'aight. Sounds good."

PJ and Katy turned around and headed back through the theater, with the bear seething out, "Why'd you have to waste all my popcorn?"

"Relax, I'll get you a new one. Just hurry up; the sooner they're by themselves, the better."

 _*Perfect. Everything's going to plan*..._


	12. Alone Together

_*No, please, don't go…*_

She nervously gave a side glance to PaRappa, who simply shook his head at the two walking off. "Well. They're gonna be a while, knowing PJ…" He gazed over at the plaza in front of the theatre, taking in a relaxed breath.

Lammy fidgeted slightly as she felt herself start to freeze up. * _Why, oh why did they have to go? I feel like I can barely move because I'm so-*_

"Hey Lammy." The dog next to her called out her name, causing her to flinch slightly. "You wanna go for a small walk? It actually is pretty nice outside..and it might be a bit until they come back."

 _*Now he wants to do something. I feel like I'm about to pass out…*_ The panicking lamb simply smiled and nodded her head in response, trying her best to mask her utter terror.

Thankfully, he didn't seem to notice, as he gave a smile back and began to walk off, motioning for her to join him.

Taking a quick look back at where PJ and Katy went off to, she shuffled along and followed him, her entire stomach in knots.

A cool breeze wafted through the air as the sun set in the orange tinted sky, the clouds resembling sweetened cotton candy. Short trees with vivid emerald leaves swayed along with the wind, making a soft rustling sound echo through the area. The few patrons still walking through the plaza chatted and laughed with one another, moving along their way in lazy strides.

The two walked alongside each other in supposedly comfortable silence, one of them completely unaware of the other's distress.

Lammy rubbed her neck nervously. First the theatre, and now this...was she ever gonna get a break tonight?

It was nice of Katy and PJ to try and push them along with their help, she'll admit that much. But it was just too much stress on her. Even now, she could feel absolute panic bubbling up inside her. All she wanted to do was retreat back into her own home, where she didn't have to be set under the weight of worrying about every little action she does or word she says.

 _*But...at least he seems happy now. And that's what really matters here._

 _Even if I feel like I'm gonna be sick. It doesn't matter.*_

She gazed over at him, her heart beating a tad faster as she noticed the grin in his face. Any semblance of the bad mood he had earlier was gone, and was replaced with a content relaxedness.

You can't judge a book by its cover though. She was still curious as to what was bothering him..

Maybe...maybe she should ask him? Just to make sure. Yeah. She'll do that. Or at least try to.

She cleared her throat softly, trying to force the words out her mouth, stuttering a quiet, "U-uh...hey, PaRappa…"

"Yeah?" He perked up his ears at hearing his name, looking at her inquisitively.

Lammy felt herself gazing back at him for a moment too long and hurriedly looked away. "W-well...I was wondering something..about earlier. If it's okay to ask you…." She dared not look at him again - but found herself doing so anyways.

His eyes were directly on hers, making her mind melt in panic. PaRappa didn't seem to notice, as he had a soft smile on his face, and innocently replied, "You don't have to ask me if it's alright. Just go ahead and ask."

 _*It's hard to when you keeping looking at me like that!_ * "I-I...Um..well…" She hurriedly tore her eyes away from his once more, trying to think past the overwhelming fear inside her. "S-so...earlier...y-y-you didn't look like you were in the b-best mood. I-I-I was just wondering...if you're okay now?"

He kept looking at her, his eyes searching her face, and eventually took in a deep breath, gazing downwards; she began to worry that she accidently reminded him of something traumatic. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just…" A defeated sigh was let out of him, his entire stature starting to droop. "I keep thinking about Sunny, I guess. She's moving away soon. Really soon. And no matter what I try to do..she just doesn't seem like she cares much." He tugged on one of his ears softly. "I can't help but feel down about it...y'know what I mean?"

The lamb gazed down upon her friend, feeling a flurry of emotions swirl inside her. * _Sunny. Of course it's about Sunny. How could I be so dumb not to think of that…_ * She rubbed her arm carefully, a sense of pity and distress making her throat begin to ache. "I-I'm sorry.. I know exactly how you feel."

Even though she wasn't here, she was all he could think about still.

 _*This..this was a dumb idea. A terrible idea. As if I could actually ever have the chance to-*_

PaRappa frowned at her, snapping her out of her thoughts. "What?"

 _*Uh oh. Did I do something wrong?_ * "E-eh...yeah, I do. Is that..?"

He shook his head at her. "You shouldn't feel like that too! Some punk out there messing with you Lammy?" Straightening his stature, he searched around himself. "No one'll be giving my friends trouble with me just standin' by."

She could help but giggle at his defensive manner, reassuring him with, "Ha….relax, there's no one doing anything like that anymore."

He relaxed his posture, grinning at her. "Well if you say so Lammy. But if anyone..and I mean ANYONE wants to bug you-" He pointed at himself boldly. "They're gonna have to answer to this guy first!"

The lamb found herself chuckling at him again, feeling much less tense now. "Alright, I'll keep that in mind then." The truth was, she could definitely handle herself now (all she had to do was remember her old guitar, cracked clean in half after some sap didn't know how to leave the girls of MilkCan alone), but it was nice of him to even offer.

They went back to walking, the patrons walking around the two as they enjoyed the evening together. Neither of them said anything to each other for a few minutes, until suddenly PaRappa piped up with a question of his own.

"Hmm..actually, now that I think about it...is there anyone you have your own eye on?"

She could swear she felt her heartbeat freeze right then and there. * _...he didn't just ask what I think he did, did he?*_

He cemented her fear with his next question. "C'mon...there's gotta be someone." Shoving his hands into his pockets, he smirked. "If I guess right, you gotta tell me. It's only fair."

 _*..Uh oh.*_ A sense of alarm overcame her as she attempted to stutter out comprehensible words. "I-I don't-"

"Hmmm..is it PJ?" He looked thoughtful for a moment. "I mean, I wouldn't judge you.."

She let out a small giggle. "Ha..n-no." Not that she held anything against the bear. But it was moreso the bear's best friend that…

"Let's see...is it Katy?"

Lammy shrugged. "S-she's moreso my best friend.."

"Well...how about Matt, back when he was still around? He's a good looking guy."

She frowned as she thought about him. He was here for a few years, but then moved away. Paula did as well.

Where they are, no one really knows, since they didn't keep in touch.

"N-not really…"

PaRappa's eyebrows rose up slightly. "Really? All the girls were chasing after him...even though he wasn't very interested at all." He stared at the ground for a moment before slowly muttering, "Well...give me a minute to think..."

She rubbed her arm nervously. He listed off quite a few people...soon, he would probably get to everyone else. Possibly including himself. And then what would she do? * _It's getting a bit too close for comfort.*_

"W-well...it doesn't matter anyways. He wouldn't ever see me in the same way - he has his eyes on someone else too. I guess I don't blame him though..."

He looked up at her with a questioning face after hearing her harsh words. "You shouldn't be so pessimistic Lammy..or hard on yourself. You gotta believe - no matter how it doesn't seem like you should." Rubbing his neck, he continued with a warm smile. "And you never know. Maybe someday, this guy'll realize how awesome you really are. And then..y'know."

Lammy's eyes widened at his sincere words. * _Wow. He thinks..I'm awesome?*_ She looked away to hide her blushing face, feeling incredibly giddy all of a sudden. "A-aw...t-t-th-thank you...I..I hope that it does happen….hopefully….."

He gave her a wide grin. "I'm sure it will, Lammy."

They smiled at each other before looking away, and began walking through the plaza once again. The streetlights illuminated the sidewalks, a soft glow lightening up the plaza. The sky was now tinged purple, the sun beginning to dip down beyond the horizon.

They walked in silence for a moment until PaRappa glanced over at Lammy, noticing how she was still so standoffish.

"...hey." The person he was addressing hitched her breath, her ears going straight up in surprise. "Now I couldn't help but wonder one last thing...why are you still so shy around me?"

Lammy felt like a lamb caught in headlights. Her height shrunk down slightly as she habitually covered her stomach with her arms. "U-uh...um..I'm not?"* _I'm trying my best not to be...it's just so hard around you though!*_

He let out a small chuckle. "Yeah you are. I thought we were friends?" He shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I know we aren't really the closest, but..it makes me feel like you don't really like spending time with me, is all…"

 _*What?! Oh no...what do I even say to something like that?*_

"Oh, PaRappa! No no no...that's not it at all.." She made a slight grimace at seeing him prick his own ears up at this.

"So there is something?"

"N-no…."

"No no, there is, I can tell. Alright, what is it?" He stopped walking alongside her, and stood away from her, gesturing to himself. "What is it that's always making you nervous around me?"

 _*Everything.*_ "N..no, there isn't…"

"Is it the way I look?" He gazed down at himself, adjusting his grey tank top. "I guess it can look either really intimidating or really dumb…"

She fidgeted nervously, clearing her throat before letting out an anxious,"No…" * _It doesn't look like either of those things to me….ugh, no, don't think like that right now!*_

He gave her a doubting look, and crossed his arms. "Really? Well...it has to be something then."

 _*It's everything.*_ "I t-told you, there isn't-"

"Lammy." He firmly called out her name, causing her to stop in her words. "..C'mere."

She hesitatingly walked over to him, and felt her arms gripping herself tighter in pure terror. "Hmm...look at me."

Her eyes went down to the ground, disregarding his command until he repeated, "Look at me. Please."

She took a small breath and finally gazed up at him, feeling her face instantly burn at having to make eye contact with him.

He squinted slightly as if trying to figure out something until he suddenly looked away, muttering, "Hmph. No, I still can't figure it out. You're a tough nut to crack…" A frowning dog itched his head, deep in thought as the lamb next to him let out a shaky breath she was holding in. "I thought if maybe I could get a good look at you, I'd be able to tell..like how you can tell when people lie. Or maybe it was something else…?"

Far away, a large teddy bear and blue cat sat at a table, watching the entire spectacle carefully.

"Mmpf..well? What's going on?" PJ shoveled another handful of popcorn into his mouth, not caring that crumbs were falling all over himself and the table.

Katy wiped a few that happened to fall on her off of her arm before responding. "I don't know..they're talking to each other, but I can't hear them…"

"Aren't you supposed to have good hearing or something….aw, crap."

"What? What is it?"

"I don't have anymore popcorn left…"

"Are you * _kidding me*_?! I just bought that for you like 10 minutes ago!

The resulting shout caused the faraway lamb to notice them. She frantically waved for them to come over, putting her hands behind her back when PaRappa looked at her again.

"Uh oh! We've been spotted!" Katy shielded her eyes in an attempt to avoid detection.

"Yipe!" PJ hurriedly looked around himself, setting his eyes onto the empty popcorn bucket in front of him, and then hastily pulled it onto his head.

Lammy let out a soft sigh as she watched her friends attempting to hide. * _Have they been watching us this entire time?*_

PaRappa gazed off to where she was facing, noticing the two sitting at the table. "What...hey!"

They jolted from their spot as PaRappa ran over to them, Lammy walking along a few steps behind him.

He was smiling widely at them, not even considering the fact that they were trying to eavesdrop on them. "Where have you guys been? It's been a bit."

Katy relaxed at his innocent question. "Erm, well, you see…" What were the right words to say? Can't make him suspicious... "We came out a little bit ago..but then we saw you two talking."

"We didn't wanna interrupt you or anything like that," mumbled PJ from under his headgear.

The rapper stared at him for a moment, simply remarking, "...I'm not even gonna ask." He took a glance up at the sky above them, heaving a soft sigh as the stars twinkled slightly. "It's getting a little late…" He looked back down at his friends, giving them a benevolent smile. "Today was a really fun day...but I think it's time to go home."

PaRappa had offered to bring everyone home in his car, and was chatting with PJ, who had shouted out 'Shotgun!', and ran to claim his spot.

Which normally would have annoyed everyone, but left Katy and Lammy time to chat in the backseat. The boys were loudly talking to each other, too distracted to pay attention to them.

"So..Lammy. If you don't mind me asking...how did everything go?" She leant in close while talking to her, keeping her voice barely above a whisper.

"E-em...not bad, I guess.." She flicked one of her ears shyly.

Katy instantly noticed her nervous tick. "Lammy, you're a bad liar."

"W-well..h-he asked me a few things...t-that's about it though…"

The feline's ears pricked up at this. "..really? At least you guys managed to talk a bit?"

Lammy thought back to how they were simply able to relax, both in silence as they listened to the breeze take to the trees. "Y-yeah..it was really nice…"

Just then, the car had started to slow down. The driver spoke up from his seat. "Alright...first stop; Lammy's house. You sure you don't need a ride home Katy?"

"I'm sure! I'm staying over at Lammy's for tonight, but thanks for asking!" She got out of the car, giving Lammy a quick, warning glance before closing the door.

The lamb nervously cleared her throat, and quietly muttered, "Th-thanks PaRappa...for d-driving us home…."

He turned around slightly in his seat, giving a small wave of his paw. "No problem Lammy. Thanks for coming today. It was a lot of fun." Grinning at her, he added, "It was great to see you again too."

She was caught off guard by his little compliment, feeling her entire face start to heat up as she stared back in surprise. She eventually started fumbling with the handle of the door, stuttering out, "I-I...y-y-you too…" before finally getting out of the car.

Shutting the door, she berated herself mentally, feeling hopelessly embarrassed at freezing up once again. * _I can't believe I was sitting there, gawking at him like that...ugh….*_

Inside the car, PaRappa waved to his friends, and began driving the car out of the driveway. He noticed Lammy give off a small wave of her own before heading inside her apartment, Katy following her close behind.

PJ watched them disappear inside the building, with Katy already looking as if she was bugging Lammy about everything that had happened, and gazed back at PaRappa.

He could see the dog's forced smile quickly beginning to fade as he turned the steering wheel.

PJ sighed as he watched his best friend's state detoriating right next to him - no doubt that the news of Sunny was really starting to beat down on him.

 _There has to be something I can do..._

The bear looked around, trying to figure out a plan, when he suddenly had an ingenious idea.

Well..he had a good time with Lammy, didn't he? Maybe they should just have another get together, like today..since it obviously helped to keep his mind off of it, even for just a few hours. That sort of distraction is a key point in trying to overcome….grief? Whatever it is he's going through.

Plus, who knows? Something could finally be able to work in Lammy's favor too. Knock out two birds with one stone.

He gave a wary look to the dog's phone on the seat between them, taking a nervous gulp. This probably wasn't going to end very well...but desperate times...

"Hey, PaRappa?"

"Hm?" The dog gave a quick glance over at his friend, still keeping his eyes on the road, even though they were nearly to his house.

"..uh….can I see your phone really quick? There's something I gotta do before I forget.."

He lifted an eyebrow at him, slowly reaching down to grab his phone out of its place on the seat between them, unlocking it. "Sure, I guess…"

PJ gladly took it and waited until his friend was focusing back on the road before hastily began typing a number into it.

Feeling too anxious to type out anything, he brought it up to his ear, trying to ignore how PaRappa was eyeing him warily.

 _*Well...let's hope this works.*_

The bass guitarist set her purse down on the nearby counter, stretching each of her limbs out in a cat-like way. "Aaahh...that was a fun day, wasn't it Lammy?"

"..."

"..Lammy?"

"Oh...uh, yeah. Yeah, it really was!" replied a distant voice.

Katy turned around to see her friend staring into nothing with a content look. She nervously walked over, waving a hand in front of her face, cautiously asking, "You doing okay there Lammy?"

The lamb took a few moments to register she was being talked to. "Oh...yeah. I'm gooood….everything's good…" She rubbed her arm slowly, her small tail waggling softly.

Katy shook her head at her, walking over to the couch and grabbing the remote. * _I guess someone had a better time than they let off.*_

"C'mon, silly. Relax." She patted the seat next to her, welcoming Lammy to join her.

Instead, the lamb dreamingly wandered over, softly sitting down next to her friend. She set her eyes on the TV in front of them, although she didn't seem to be paying much attention to it at all.

Katy smirked at her friend, her own tail curled around herself as she watched Lammy gaze off slightly to her side.

She was staring off into space with a small grin on her face, looking absolutely mesmerized by whatever she was thinking about. A small chuckle was let out of her, along with her rubbing her shoulder shyly.

 _*What a lovesick dork.*_

"Lammy?"

"Hmm?" She gazed over at the voice, her thoughts still distracted, a dumb smile etched on her face.

"..anything on your mind?" She rose a sly eyebrow up at her, trying to get her to respond.

"...no. Not really…" The lamb looked away, shaking her head at the question. "Guess I'm still sorta thinking about earlier…"

Katy laughed softly at this. "So it was a good idea to finally try and do something then?"

"Yeah...I-I never did thank you, by the way, for trying to help me with it."

Her feline friend reached over to give her a small hug. "D'aaawww...what are friends for?"

Suddenly, a loud song started blaring through the air, startling the two.

 _*'No time for tears! ''No time for tears!'_

' _The goal is near! ''The goal is near!''_

' _I'm trying to shift..' ''Tryin' to shift..''_

' _To a higher gear! ''To a higher gear!''*_

"Wh-wha...s-s-sorry!" Lammy fumbled in her purse for her phone, dropping it on the ground before managing to grip it firmly. "W-w-wh-why is he calling me?"

Katy's tail whipped around excitedly. "Well...are you sure it's him?"

"Y-yes, I'm sure!" She hurriedly looked at the screen to see if it was true.

Sure enough, it was him. She'd be happy if it didn't make her so nervous about why he was calling. Or if Katy wasn't ogling her, waving for her to answer it already.

She slid the button and brought it to her ear, trying to will herself to relax past her racing heart. "Hey! W-what's up?"

Surprisingly, a drowsy voice responded to her. "* _Hey Lammy! PaRappa's busy driving me home, and he.. No. No, I'm not gonna… just focus on the road man!*_ "

Lammy took a look at her phone to make sure it was actually PaRappa's number, that didn't get mixed up with PJ's somehow. 555...yeah, this was it. She brought it back up to her ear, listening to the two arguing over the phone.

"* _That's why I said to watch the road! You're the one driving here!_ _ **Ahem**_. _So uh, what he wanted to ask is if you, Katy, and Ma-San wanted to come with us to the beach.*_ " She heard a bit more scuffling as shouting started sounding out.

Shaking her head, she held a hand against the phone, whispering to her nearby friend, "I-It's PJ...he wants to know if M-MilkCan wants to go to the beach tomorrow."

Katy immediately bolted from her half of the couch to Lammy's side. "What, together?"

"Y-yeah..I guess so-"

"YES! Yes yes yes!" She danced in her spot, her enthusiasm starting to spook her a little.

"O-oh...I guess you really wanna go then...it's definitely been a while….w-wait, but what about Ma-San?"

"She doesn't like going there, remember? Something about the sand, or something.. Plus, she's busy tomorrow anyways, so we're good there."

Lammy nodded to her, bringing the phone back up. "Hello? PJ?"

"* _Give me th- Yeah! PJ here!*_ "

"W-well, Katy and I would love to go. Ma-San can't, but hopefully that will be okay?"

"* _Yea, sure! Sounds awesome! Does 2 sound good?*_ "

Katy nodded hastily to her ovine friend. "Sounds good to us. See you then!"

PJ held PaRappa away at arm's length (which consisted of nearly holding him against the door itself) as he shouted into the phone, "Cool! See ya!"

He finally let go of the dog, who angrily snatched his phone from his grasp and shouted out, "PJ! What the hell?!"

"I know, I know! Didn't you have fun today though?"

"Yeah, but I-"

"You need this, man. The last thing you need is to be at home, moping over this whole situation with Sunny. I know you well enough."

PaRappa glared at him, feeling a bit embarrassed over the entire situation, until he heard him continuing in a low voice.

"I don't want to see you down, PaRappa. I just want you to be happy." The massive bear sighed as he rubbed his head, obviously distressed from the situation. "I..know what it's like to just sit by, and be depressed because a few simple things don't go your way. And I don't want my best friend going through that."

He looked over at the rapper, not caring that his eyes felt slightly wet. "You get what I'm saying? Just..if you're not gonna do it for yourself, can you at least do it for me?"

PaRappa relaxed himself at the sudden change of his voice. "..I had no idea this really meant that much to you PJ." He sat back in his seat, leaning backwards as he took a calming breath. "..Sure. Yeah, I'll go. No fuss." He looked over at him with a tired smile and held his hands up. "See? Promise."

The DJ grinned back at him, feeling at ease knowing he was going along with his request. "Awesome. Thanks for driving me home."

"No problem. See you tomorrow."

PJ clambered out the car, waving goodbye to his friend as he began to slowly drive off to his own home.

Inside the car, PaRappa couldn't help but think over his friend's words once more. '*...and I don't want my best friend going through that*'.

 _*Dammit._ _Why does he have to know me so well?_ * Grumbling to himself as he drove into his own driveway, he turned the car off, deciding to sit alone with his thoughts for a few moments before heading inside.

Ultimately, it was true. He could already tell he was gonna beat himself up for Sunny saying no again...as if it was really up to him, or something. And this whole situation was seriously draining away all of his optimism when he needed it most.

He's supposed to be the guy that everyone can look to for a pick me up. The one who will always confirm with them that they 'just gotta believe!' when the going gets tough.

But what about now? What about now, when the main person he had believed so much for was going to be gone from his life soon?

PaRappa rubbed his head under his hat, finally taking the keys out of the ignition. He doesn't have the answer to that question. Or pretty much any of the other questions that have been running through his head constantly.

He shoved his phone into his pocket, making sure he also had his house keys with him before he began to begrudgingly walked the steps up to his house.

Maybe it's actually a good thing that PJ set up another get together with everyone after all, now that he thinks about it. It's only a few hours after the last one, and he's already feeling like this…

How is he gonna feel in a few days when it actually becomes the day that he's been dreading?

The dog grumbles under his breath as he looks for the correct key on his keychain. All these stupid thoughts were starting to irritate him. He doesn't wanna think about any of that..not for a bit.

He didn't want to think of it at all since it really hurt. It pained him immensely to have to force himself to keep on this positive persona of his when he seriously didn't have it in him..how could he? The girl of his dreams, moving far away somewhere..acting as if everything was perfectly alright, like she was just going down the street for…

Look, there he goes again, with these pessimistic thoughts. He thumps his head against the door before opening it, shoving his keys back into his pocket before taking one last look at the night sky.

The stars were still twinkling up there, all of them illuminating the night sky besides the crescent moon. They managed to still shine so brightly…

 _*And what about me?_ * PaRappa looked down at his hands, feeling incredibly off. _*Something big happens, and I'm already starting to_ -*

"PaRappa!" A voice called out for him inside the house, making him perk his ears up. "Is that you at the door?"

"Oh, uh, yeah!" He finally began to shut it behind himself, shouting back in his best makeshift cheery voice, "Just had to check something really quick!" The door eventually shuts behind him, clicking softly as he locked it, with him running off to help his dad with whatever gadget he was working on.


	13. Like Old Times

PaRappa threw the backpack in his hands onto the seat in front of him, shutting the door after he did so.

Well. Time to go have fun...even though he seriously didn't feel up to it at all.

 _*I feel like total shit. But, I gotta do it for PJ…_

 _And I gotta believe. Even though it feels like there's no point to keep believing right now…*_

He slowly sat down in the driver's seat, bringing the seatbelt over him as the guest in the passenger seat sadly watched him.

"Hey."

The dog looked over at him dejectedly.

"It's gonna be okay...we're gonna have a good time."

 _*Yeah, sure.*_

Not feeling up to speaking, he simply gave a tired nod in response, and gradually eased the car into drive.

After picking up the girls, PaRappa finally turned the car in the direction of the beach - one of their favorite places to go after he got his car, all those long years ago.

He didn't even bother trying to invite Sunny this time though. The stagnant routine was getting old, to say the least..he had enough of it at this point.

It still hurt, of course. And he still wanted her to be here. It didn't even have to be a romantic thing, as much as he would want that - just her presence here, with everyone else, would be wonderful. Kinda like old times...

But, that was just too much to ask. And he had to pretend that everything was fine (even though it definitely wasn't) for the sake of his friends. One of the last things he would want would be to sour it up for everyone else.

He slowed down along the side of the road and pulled the brake, shutting off the AC before turning the ignition off. "Alright, we're here!" He forced out a quiet chuckle as he tried to maintain a happy demeanor.

Katy squealed out in excitement as she hurriedly got out of the car. "Oh boy! It's been such a long while since we came here...ah, old times."

She whipped around and happily hugged Lammy, who shyly shut the door behind her. "It's so cool that you're here with us too now Lammy!"

"W-well...w-w-what are friends for?" She gave a small smile to her friend as she let her go.

Last night, she was incredibly ecstatic about today. And why wouldn't she? Another day with her friends..another day with PaRappa…

But now that the day has come, she couldn't help but feel intense regret sticking in her side like a sharp needle. She didn't think this through at the time (not that she was exactly in the most clear state of mind, however)..

Being here at the beach meant she had to..actually wear something * _revealing*_ , to say the least. Which she was incredibly uncomfortable with.

Especially around her friends. Especially out in public.

Katy, of course, was constantly spewing out all sorts of supportive mantras for her dear friend, trying her best to encourage her past her fear. Which helped….barely.

Even now, she tried to suppress a shiver as the overwhelming panic boiled up inside her, making her want to turn on her heels, back into the car, away from all the prying eyes.

The cat threw an arm around her shoulder, cooing out a soft, "You don't have anything to worry about Lammy. We all care about you, no matter what you look like. Plus, you really don't have anything to be worried about in that regard…"

Lammy blushed at her compliment. "* _Katy*..._ I-I..thanks, b-but-"

"Shush! C'mon, they're waiting for us! _He's_ waiting!"

"I-I-I-I-"

She didn't get to stutter out her reply before Katy grabbed her hand and led her towards the beach, waving to her friends who were already getting themselves situated.

PaRappa bundled his discarded shirt into a tight ball, tossing it onto the nearby, laid-out blanket as PJ pointed at the hat still atop his head.

"Uh...you gonna take that off?"

The bear sat down on the ground, bringing his sunglasses over his eyes as the dog folded his arms stubbornly. "..no."

He hated taking his beanie off...and with how he was feeling right now, that was the last thing he wanted to deal with.

PJ rose a worried eyebrow at him. "..you're gonna get it wet..."

"So?"

"Doesn't it mean a lot to you?" He shrugged. "Thought you wouldn't want anything happening to it…"

"...yeah...but I don't-"

"Then maybe you should take it off." The bear stood back up, walking over to his friend and holding out his large paw. "I'll make sure nothing will happen to it."

"No thanks." PaRappa firmly tugged down on it, making it cover his eyes slightly. "I'm not gonna take it off. I kinda don't care at this point."

"Now we both know you don't really feel like that." He shook his hand at him, asking worriedly, "Please?"

"NO." He yanked down on his hat, making it completely cover his eyes now. "You know I hate taking it off too!"

Which wasn't a lie...truth was, he was a bit self-conscious about it, funnily enough. So that wasn't gonna happen.

Before PJ could say anything else, Katy walked up to PaRappa and placed a paw on his head. "I think you should listen to him, PaRappa! Take it from me..or, take it from Lammy." She nudged her friend, who was standing anxiously behind her. "What do you think?"

"U-uh...I-I-I...I don't know!" She tried to hide more discreetly behind Katy, desperately trying to stay out of the dog's sight.

"Oh, Lammy, stop acting like a five year old." She stepped to the side, setting her hand on her shoulder to prevent her from moving along.

PaRappa pulled his hat back over his eyes, and was met with the sight of a timid lamb shakingly staring at him. She seemed to have changed into her swimsuit as well, but was wearing a long, white jacket that was covering her moderately.

He eyed it for a moment, noticing how tightly she was holding it around herself, and gave her a small smile. "Oh. Hey Lammy. You look nice."

She wrapped the jacket around herself tighter, stepping over to Katy's side while mumbling out a quiet, "T-t-t-thank y-y-you…."

Katy chuckled at her. "You should probably take that jacket off Lammy."

"N-n-no t-thank you…"

She nudged her with her elbow. "Well..you can't go in the water with it on. You'll ruin it."

"F-fine by m-me….."

Katy twitched her tail impatiently at her, but shook her head and walked over to the blanket, setting down their stuff on it. "Suit yourself then! Guess you'll just be stuck here, watching all of us have fun without you!~"

PaRappa let out a quiet sigh. "And by 'us', you mean you and PJ…"

"Yup! I meant me and...wait, huh?"

He cleared his throat, and began to turn away. "I'm not gonna go swimming yet...don't wait up for me though. You guys go have fun."

Everyone watched him walk off slowly near the water, until he sat down in the sand, not caring about the consequences of doing so. He silently watched the waves edge closer and closer to him, his friends eyeing him warily as the dog's unhappy mood was beginning to finally show.

Katy tisked at the depressed dog, feeling a slight hint of remorse. Unfortunately, she doubt anything she could say to him would cheer him up.

She turned away, noticing a certain bear motioning for her to follow him somewhere, while also pointing back and forth between Lammy and PaRappa.

The cat looked back and forth between him and her best friend standing next to her. She was watching PaRappa sadly, the hold on her jacket beginning to loosen.

 _*But..maybe someone else can?*_

"Lammy."

She looked over at her, one of her ears twitching. "Hmm?"

"I gotta go see what PJ wants. Why don't you go and keep PaRappa company?"

"W-what?" The lamb jolted from her spot, waving her hands worriedly. "W-why me?!"

Katy stepped over and motioned towards the dog. "Look at him! He's miserable!" He leaned back, keeping his eyes on the water as it slowly began to recede again. "Just..talk about something with him. Anything at all, to keep his mind off of it all."

"I…" Really? Alone with him again? And….

How was she going to do this?

Well...she had no idea how...but she'll come up with something; she's sure that it won't be a total disaster.

Especially since things didn't go all too badly last night at all. And...maybe she should just try and convince herself to set her fears aside for once.

Katy gave her a quick hug, saying, "I'm leaving it up to you, Lammy!"

The lamb couldn't help but snicker softly at the phrase. "A-alright...I guess I can-"

"Great! See you in a bit!" She then ran off, leaving her alone to her task.

Lammy gave a small gulp, and looked back over at PaRappa. Taking in a deep breath, she began walking over to him, each step making her stomach tie itself tighter and tighter.

PaRappa sighed as he sat on the ground, watching the waves slowly creep in still. Eventually, they began moving away, barely being able to reach him.

He was supposed to be having fun. Not...this. And each time he reminded himself of it more and more, he couldn't help but feel angry at it all.

 _*What kind of friend am I, leaving my friends so I can sit here, by myself. I try to keep everything upbeat, but I can't even fake it long enough for it to matter.*_

He didn't notice the girl quietly stepping over to his side, and sitting down next to him, keeping a firm hold on the jacket she still had around herself.

Katy bounded over next to PJ, not paying much mind to what he was saying to the server he was talking to.

Her tail waved around wildly as she looked up at him. "So PJ...you ready to go swimming?"

"Nah, not really." He turned towards her, both of his paws now holding a massive ice cream cone.

"What? You aren't...then what are you here for then?"

"The free ice cream." The bear motioned towards a small sign behind him, with the server giving her a welcome wave before helping the next customer. "Free all day today - plus, I don't even like swimming that much."

"Ugh...ser-"

"Before you say anything, remember that I'm the one that managed to get him to agree to this. Again. He needed a lot more convincing this time. So you owe me this."

The cat rolled her eyes at him. "Fair enough.. Good thing that I already did my part then!"

He rose an eyebrow at her. "...what do you mean by that?"

She grinned triumphantly at him. "Look right over there!"

He squinted towards where she was pointing in the distance, trying to pinpoint the two against the background.

Sure enough, he could see the lamb herself sitting down next to him.

"Well, look at that. Nice to see her taking the initiative for once." He looked down to his side to see a smug cat smirking at him. "So now what?"

The smile on her face faded away as she looked back towards the duo. "Oh...well….I guess we'll have to wait and see?"

Lammy let out a soft sigh as she watched the waves ease in and out of the land, the sun illuminating the waters brilliantly.

She dared not look to her side. It was hard enough trying to will herself to stay sitting next to him...but now she should probably say something.

 _*I..I can't.*_

The words were stuck in her throat again. She scowled as she tried to will herself past the nearly overwhelming fear making her silent, berating herself for not being able to simply talk like everyone but her could.

 _*Why now? Why can't I ever-*_

"Lammy."

"AH!" She jolted on the spot, not expecting the dog to be addressing her.

"Whoa, relax!" He let out a small chuckle as he gazed towards the lamb next to her, a weak smile on his face. "You decided to keep me company?"

"Um...I…"

She was feeling incredibly uncomfortable just a few moments ago; now she felt even worse, somehow. It felt as if everything inside of her was tearing at itself agonizingly as she forced herself to only look at his face, and not at anything else. It especially didn't help that he wasn't wearing a shirt...

 _*No. Stop. Have some decency when he's sitting next to you.*_

"Hmm.." He looked back towards the water. "Thanks. Means a lot you decided to stay here with me."

She smiled at his sincere words. "Oh...y-you're welcome…"

A few moments of silence went by between them, the only sounds being the waves splashing against the edge of the sand, and the occasional, distant shouts behind then.

 _*I..guess it's okay to not say anything then?*_

"..You don't have to be so scared, Lammy."

He watched her give him a shocked look, her hold on her jacket tightening. "Wh-what?"

 _*Oh no...does that mean he knows? Knows about...everything?_

 _Relax, that's probably not what he was talking about. Relax. Remember to breath. No, not that fast. Now you're just hyperventilating! Oh my gosh….*_

"Well, yeah, you don't." He waved at her. "You shouldn't feel like you need that jacket on you still. You really think we're that superficial?"

 _*Oh. See? All that worrying for nothing..*_

"I-I...no, i-i-it's not that...I-I trust you guys…"

"..so it's everyone else, then?"

She looked over at him, seeing him watching her with careful eyes. "Uh...I…"

 _*What do I even say?*_

"You don't have anything to worry about." He smiled benevolently at her. "If anything, we'll make sure nothing happens to you. I'LL make sure nothing happens to you. Okay?"

She felt her insides melting at his sincere words. _Wow…_

"So...you gonna take it off now?"

"Oh! I…" She looked away from him. "I'm not…"

PaRappa frowned at her. He heaved out a low sigh, setting his hands on his legs. "Alright. What if I helped you then?"

"...what?" * _He isn't actually gonna…*_

He pointed to his beanie, still sitting atop his head. "You know I never take it off. But...I kinda have to right now if I don't want anything bad happening to it." Setting both his hands on his head, he continued. "I'm..kinda self-conscious about it…"

 _*Really? You?*_ "I-I didn't know that…" Now that was unheard of. The dog who always told you to believe in yourself...being worried about something of himself?

"You take off that jacket...and I'll take my hat off. We'll both help each other out." She could see his grip on his hat tighten. "Okay?"

Feeling obligated to, she slowly reached for opening in her jacket. * _I really don't want to do this...but it's only fair….*_

"O-okay…"

She shut her eyes, listening to the crashing of the waves and his lone voice letting out a soft huff, along with him saying, "Alright, I took it off. Now it's your turn."

Lammy let out a nervous hum, and hurriedly fumbled for the buttons on her jacket, taking it off and folding it into a ball.

She finally opened her eyes, seeing how the sun was now setting across the eater, casting off a soothing glow across it. The waters were a blend of warm colors, reaching out all the way towards where they crashed in a white foam, just a few inches away from them.

The lamb decided to look over at her side at the dog, and was caught off guard by what she was looking at.

 _*Is that...his hair?_

 _It's….*_

Under that hat was an overgrown, wavy mess. It obscured his eyes, making him look less like the floppy eared dog he was and more like a matted sheepdog. When was the last time he went to get a haircut?

As if being able to read her thoughts, he attempted to blow it out of his face, failing miserably in that it stayed practically the same, and mumbled, "I...don't like getting my hair cut. At least, not down at the salon. ESPECIALLY after that whole noodle thing…" He shuddered, his hair fluttering as he did so. "And I don't really wanna ask anyone, or do it myself, since I don't wanna get anything * _cut_ _off*_ , God forbid…"

She watched him try and blow it out if his face again, giggling softly. Was this really all he was worried about? "W-well, I don't care about that at all. I-I think it looks nice, actually."

It was really adorable, if she was being honest with herself. Maybe just a trim or two, and he would really be able to clean up well…

She shook her head at the thought. * _Hey, don't think about him like that! He isn't some show dog!_

 _And besides, he probably wouldn't care anyways..*_

He grumbled softly. "Meh...I don't like it. It's always in my face if I ever let it down. Which i usually don't."

 _*See? Told you.*_

She smiled at him anyways, even though he wouldn't have been able to see it.

Just then, a bubbly voice a bit ways away shouted out to them. "Hey! You guys doing okay over...whoa."

Katy stepped up to them, eyeing PaRappa as he looked up at her (or at least, where he sensed her at). "Good to see you finally listened to PJ after all…and Lammy!" She excitedly gazed over at the lamb sitting next to him. "You took your jacket off!"

"Ehm..y-yeah…" She nervously rubbed her arm, the blush on her face becoming more apparent as the dog next to her blew the hair out of his face once more.

"Oh, PaRappa, here…" Katy pulled off one of the hair tyes on her wrist, walking over to the dog and kneeling down behind him. "I'll..uh...help you with that."

The dog huffed at her, crossing his arms over his chest. "It ain't dirty, y'know. I just haven't cut it…"

The cat rolled her eyes and pulled the hair out of his eyes, making him wince slightly at the soft yank.

He blinked a few times as he began to regain his eyesight, and noticed that Lammy was still sitting next to him..but this time, with the jacket balled up beside her.

She was wearing a simple one piece swimsuit, the colors fading from a light gradient down into a darker blue, as deep as the ocean next to them.

He felt himself smirking at her as Katy finished tying his hair into a bun. "W-wow..you look really nice Lammy."

 _*Really nice. Reeeaalllyyyy reaalllyy…_

 _Wait. Oh, shit..*_

He sheepishly set his hands into his lap as he watched Lammy nervously shake her head at him. "T-t-thank you, PaRappa…"

Thankfully, Katy bolted up from her spot behind him, shouting out, "C'mon, let's get going already!" She started walking off towards the water, waving at them to follow. "If we hurry, we could maybe have a little bit of fun before we have to all get going!"

Lammy started to get up, but not before giving the dog next to her a warm smile. "T..thank you, PaRappa."

He dazedly watched her walk off, not paying much mind to PJ, who had walked over next to him.

A large paw patted the bun on his head, waking him from his trance. "So..you want me to hold onto your hat?"

"Oh...right…." The dog fumbled around for a bit, eventually handing his hat to him. He stayed on the ground for a moment longer, looking incredibly flustered with something.

The bear payed no mind to him, setting his beanie atop his own head, pulling it down so it would firmly stay in place. "I'm probably not gonna head into the water yet...did you know they're having free ice cream all day today?"

PaRappa finally let out a small sigh of what seemed like relief, eventually pulling himself off of the sand, shaking himself as it fell off of him. "Really? Cool...you'll have to get me one later."

PJ nodded at him. "Alright. You go have fun though. I'm gonna stay out of the water for today.." He waved down towards his right foot, pointing out the broken stitch that still hasn't been sewn up. "Probably not a smart idea with this there anyways.."

PaRappa snickered at him as he began walking off. "...you should really fix that thing.."

He shrugged in response, then turned around with a small wave of his paw.

Shaking his head at his friend, he headed off toward the water, enjoying the feel of it as it began to wash over his body.

With the sun setting, it was still slightly warm...no doubt that soon, it'll begin to get colder.

 _*Thank God.*_

Katy surfaced again and wiped the water out of her face, grinning widely as she heard Lammy greet their friend.

"Hey there! Nice of you to finally join us!"

He smirked as he rolled his eyes at her. "Yeah, yeah…" He splashed some water against her with the back of his paw.

Lammy giggled at his playful action, and decided to copy it at him. He squinted his eyes at her, a playful glint in his eye.

Suddenly, PaRappa threw one of his arms down, making Lammy shake her head as she tried to blink through her drenched hair.

Trying to open up one eye, she smiled mischievously and splashed him right back, feeling content at seeing him sputter through the water.

He coughed a little, wheezing out, "You really wanna go?" He brought his hand down forcefully, drenching her once more.

Soon, the two were hysterically splashing each other back and forth, giggling manically through their spluttering.

Poor Katy, who had been caught in the crossfire, spat out as she shook her head frantically, "* _Seriously you guys?!*_ You two are completely-"

She was cut off when the two suddenly splashed her, laughing hysterically as they watched her shake her head from the water once more.

"Alright, that's it!"

The cat threw herself at Lammy, sending the two of them underwater as PaRappa continued laughing on.

 _*Ah, my gosh..I haven't laughed this hard in a long time…*_

He wiped his face off as the two emerged again, both of them smiling at seeing him finally being himself again.

 _*A really long time…*_

From far aways, PJ chuckled softly to himself as he watched the trio continue splashing each other.

He could plainly see the smile on PaRappa's face, feeling of sense delight at seeing some semblance of his old friend back.

 _*It's good to see that he's at least trying to have fun..*_

Getting up from his spot on the blanket, he began to head back for another ice cream cone.

The server gave a soft sigh as they saw the bear approach again for the umpteenth time. "Oh..hello there again." Gathering their materials, they groaned out in a monotone voice, "Would you like the usual again, sir?"

He nodded at the server. "Maybe make it just a tad larger this time…"

The server gave out a low huff as they bent down into their cart. "That's what you said the last 15 times…"

PJ didn't pay much mind to the comment, and patiently waited for his treat as it was being made, watching his friends still playing from far away.

"Here you are...sir."

He looked back to see a huge glob of ice cream atop a tiny cone being offered to him. "Does this suit your fancy now?"

The bear carefully reached out, smirking at them. "...you know what? I think this just might be done perfectly."

The server brightened up considerably at his compliment. "Really?" They hastily put their materials away as they stretched out tiredly. "Wow! Never thought I'd be able to do it…" They cracked their back, grumbling out, "You're a tough customer to please.."

PJ winked at them. "Maybe someday I'll come down and ask for the exact same order again..when it isn't free ice cream day."

The server gazed at him in awe as he began to walk away. "I might be 'hard to please', but I don't mind paying the full price for it."

The bear walked off, sitting back onto the laid out blanket as the server gave a soft sigh. "That's the last time I'm ever doing 'free ice cream day'…"

The sun had finally sank down under the horizon, leaving behind a soft, purple sky in its absence. A small moon began to quietly glow in the sky, casting a dull light into the darkened waters.

Lammy let out a small shudder, remarking, "T-the water's getting kinda cold, you guys…"

Katy looked around herself, seeming surprised at the dark color of the waters. "I guess time flies when you're having fun..we should head back." She suppressed a shiver. "Now that you talk about it, it really is kinda cold…"

PaRappa couldn't help but crack a smile. "I'm sure there's a way to heat the water up real quick…"

"PARAPPA, I SWEAR, IF YOU DO THAT RIGHT NEXT TO ME-"

"Actually, i-it's getting really late too...we have to get going Katy."

The cat shot him a dirty look before grumbling out, "You're right..we got a busy day tomorrow. C'mon PaRappa. You're driving us, remember?"

"Sure...just give me a moment."

She gave him a disgusted sneer. "Ugh! At least wait until we're outta the water if you're seriously gonna do that.."

He laughed at her, playfully smacking a handful of water at her. "No, you weirdo! I just wanna be here a little longer. You two go get cleaned up, or whatever. My dad'll kill me if my car's seats are wet…"

She shook her head at him. "Alright...see you in a bit, then. C'mon Lammy! Let's get going…"

"A-alright...see you in a b-bit, PaRappa…" The lamb nervously waved at him before joining Katy as she swam toward the shore.

PaRappa moved along slowly, keeping himself far enough to still have his body concealed under the water.

He really didn't wanna risking clambering ashore, and then seeing...and then…

Yikes. That would be bad.

PaRappa eyed the girls as they finally got to the shore, greeting PJ as he handed them both their towels. And of course, his eyes traveled over to Lammy…

…

… _*seriously?*_

Well...good thing he was still in the water. And good thing it was getting colder by the minute too.

After he finally went ashore, he went over to PJ, who threw a towel at him, still feeling slightly embarrassed at himself. Katy and Lammy were off in the distance talking to each other about something MilkCan related.

He furiously rubbed the towel on his head, desperately wanting to take his hat back from PJ, who was watching him carefully.

 _*Stupid...hair. Not getting dry….*_

What a hassle...he seriously had to learn to cut it. Or something...anything but heading to the salon.

Hm...well, maybe the girls could do it? He looked over at them curiously, wondering if either of them would be willing to do so.

 _*Probably...who knows?*_

He watched them as they continued talking to each other, feeling himself start to blush as he started mainly watching Lammy, for whatever reason.

"..PaRappa?"

She gave a kind smile to Katy, wringing a hand through her wet hair. Any semblance of being worried about how she looked was gone for the moment, thanks to the towel covering herself.

"PaRappa."

As she was talking to Katy, the towel she had on was starting to slip down slightly. He could just barely see the very top of it now; a soft shade of sky blue apparent against the dark color of the towel. Hopefully there'll be something to make it slip off even more...and maybe even-

"PARAPPA!"

"Ack! What?!" He angrily glared over at PJ, feeling incredibly embarrassed over being caught.

"It isn't polite to stare, man. Even if it is at a pretty girl."

"Wha..I wasn't staring!" He angrily growled at him, his face clearly turning red.

"So you agree that Lammy's pretty then?" The bear smirked at him, snickering at his flustered attitude.

"Oh my..look, I don't wanna talk about it."

PJ continued smirking as he pointed at the dog's head. "You done drying out your hair?"

He rolled his eyes as he brought a hand through it, trying to show him the apparent dryness of it. "Yeah. Look. Did it like you said, or whatever."

 _*C'mon, I just need it back already.*_

The bear raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, if you say so…" He reached up with one of his hands, taking off the beanie gingerly before handing it to PaRappa, who snatched it from his grasp.

He hurriedly put it back on his head, giving a content sigh of relief as he began pushing his hair back up into it. * _Finally…*_

Looking back up at his friend, he gave him a small smile. "Urm...thank you, PJ. For making sure nothing happened to it."

He shrugged, and smiled back at him. "You're welcome PaRappa."

Just then, a loud shout was heard over to their side. "I said, leave us alone!"

They turned around to see Katy and Lammy scowling at the two bullies trying to flirt with them. They had dumb smiles on their faces, obviously smitten with the two of them.

 _*Ugh...these guys again…_

 _Just like old times…*_

"Aw, c'mon. Two pretty babes, all dressed up for us, shouldn't be here all alone. You should come back with us. Right?"

"Right!"

Katy's tailed swished around angrily, while Lammy was shivering on the spot, looking like she was about to fall over.

PaRappa ran towards them, and jumped in front of the girls, trying his best to stand up as straight as he could to appear taller than he really was. "Hey! You leave 'em alone! They ain't goin' anywhere, 'cause they're with me! Got it?"

Katy stepped back a bit, surprised at his boldness, whereas Lammy let out a nervous gasp. * _Is he really going up against them? They're twice his size!*_

"Hey...scram!"

"Yeah!"

The dog stood his ground, not deterred by their size. "I meant what I said. Leave. Them. Alone."

PJ had finally managed to walk over, and stood directly behind PaRappa, cracking his knuckles (or at least trying to). The bullies managed to tower over the short dog, yet PJ still managed to be the largest of them all.

The bullies nervously stepped back, intimidated by the teddy bear. "H-hey, we don't want no trouble!"

"Then go," growled PaRappa, who didn't notice his friend standing behind him. "Don't bother us again either."

The larger of the two bullies nervously glanced up at the bear, shrinking down as he placed his fist into his hand warningly. "W-we won't! Promise!" He looked to his side and elbowed his friend sharply. "Right?!"

"Y-yeah!"

They turned on their heels and ran off, leaving the foursome alone to themselves.

PJ sidestepped out of the way as PaRappa turned around to the two girls, a worried look on his face. "You guys okay? They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"No...we're good. Thankfull-"

"Thank you so much!"

Lammy threw her arms around PaRappa, still shaken from the recent experience. She was shivering slightly, her hold on him tightening as she let out a miniscule titter.

PJ and Katy watched with widened eyes, completely surprised at her action. The cat found her jaw to have fallen slightly, a quiet chirp of bewilderment coming out of her.

PaRappa was simply caught off guard by this. He stumbled a bit before shyly patting her back gingerly.

 _*She's still wearing her swimsuit underneath that towel..*_

Lammy let go of him, overcome completely with emotion. Her ears were perked up and she looked absolutely ecstatic that help had come her way.

"I-I-I don't have my g-guitar, s-s-o I wasn't able to...and Katy, she couldn't...b-but then you came over, and….." She seemed to have finally noticed how close she was to him, as she hurriedly stepped back a fair amount, timidly brushing a few stray strands of hair out if her face.

"..." PaRappa stood in place, still shocked by her grateful showing of affection.

"I..just, t-thank you. That was r-really scary…." The lamb rubbed her arm nervously. "I...I was never g-good at dealing with bullies by myself…."

Katy finally shook her head and bounded over to her side, throwing her arm around her shoulders. "Aww, Lammy, there's no need to get so emotional. That's just what friends do for each other, right PJ?"

"Uh..yeah. Right, of course. What are friends for?" The bear gave a weak smile to the girls.

"Well, c'mon...it's getting late, and we're gonna need to get to bed soon."

"O-oh, right."

"PaRappa, let's go. You're driving, remember?"

The dog blinked himself out of his frozen state, adjusting his crooked hat, and shouted out, "O-oh, right! Sorry, I'll get the car heated up right now."

PaRappa watched Lammy and Katy head inside her apartment once again, feeling himself smile as he noticed the lamb take a quick look back before closing the door behind them.

He set the car into drive, feeling that same sinking realization bite into him, but juxtaposed against the flittering happiness inside of him.

"Hmm...y'know, Lammy's pretty quiet and all, but she's really cool, isn't she?"

PJ glanced at him, shocked at his friend's words. "...yeah. She really is." He gave a small smirk at him. "Took you 'till now to finally realize that?"

He shrugged in response, turning the wheel steadily as he exited out of the neighborhood. "Well, we never really did much outside of our jam sessions...kinda jerky of me to not do anything until now, now that I think about it."

PJ patted his arm, reassuring him, "No use pouting over the past, man. Just be happy for what's happening now." * _I know for a fact that Lammy sure is.*_

PaRappa smiled at his proverb. "Cool. That's just what I'll...hey, actually..do you know if she's doing anything tomorrow?"

The bear rose his eyebrows at him. "I think there's another MilkCan practice session tomorrow...why do you ask?"

He reached down into his pocket, keeping his eyes on the road. "Crap. There is? I was hoping to..I dunno. Do something with her I guess? To make up for lost time?" Giving a fleeting look to his phone, he unlocked it and handed it to him. "Maybe ask her if she's not busy at some point?"

PJ eyed the phone skeptically for a moment before carefully grabbing it, and then typing in her number. He brought it up to his ear as he waited her to answer. * _He really wants to do stuff with her? Without...us?_

 _Or...without me?*_

Admittedly, he felt a bit left out...already he was starting to move on without him.

He shook the selfish thought from his mind. * _How could I think that? This is great! Katy and I were just holding them back anyways…*_

Finally, a shy voice crackled out from the other line. "* _H-hello?*_ "

"Hey there Lammy. It's PJ. PaRappa's still busy driving, so he wanted me to ask you something."

"..* _O-oh, sure. What was it he wanted to ask?*_ "

He could hear the timid tone in her voice become more apparent. PJ calmly stated, "He was just wondering if you were doing anything tomorrow. I told him that you had MilkCan practice already, but he wanted to double check with you."

A small scuffle sounded out, along with what sounded like Katy's voice, albeit quite muffled. He could barely hear her whisper something along the lines of, '* _why_ _are_ _you_ _even_ _asking_ _me_ _silly_?*' along with Lammy whispering back, '* _i_ - _i_ _didn't_ _wanna_ _be_ _rude*_ …'

Eventually, Lammy answered the phone again, the muffled filter gone. "* _W-well, we do have practice tomorrow. But maybe, if he wanted to, he could come to practice? W-w-we wouldn't mind showing him our new song we've been working on*.._ "

PJ grinned wildly at this new bit of information. He knew firsthand that PaRappa was a huge fan of MilkCan; plus, who wouldn't want to see a performance before everyone else?

"I bet he'll absolutely love that. He'll be there."

"..PJ?"

"Yeah, okay, 2:00. Got it."

"PJ."

"He'll see you then. Alright. Bye." The bear held his phone out to him, surprised by the irritated look on PaRappa's face. The car was now parked in front of PJ's house, the hum of the engine the only sound in the air for a few moments.

He snatched the phone from his outstretched grasp, growling out, "What's with you and setting up these things without my input? Can't I ever get a say in?"

"I thought you would have loved to go to a MilkCan practice to see their new song they're working on."

The dog sat in silence for a few moments before excitedly shouting out, "Are you serious?! They have a new song and I'M invited?!" He started excitedly pumping his fist into the air, the excitement a wonderful contrast to his usually crestfallen mood.

His large friend smirked at the childish show, starting to feel a bit spirited himself. "Uh huh. You're welcome."

PaRappa stopped and relaxed himself, holding his hands up in mock defeat. "Alright, I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions...thanks for calling her though."

"No problem PaRappa." He gazed outside through the car's window, noticing the moon rising into the sky. "I outta get going...see you later man."

"See ya PJ."

Getting out of the car, the DJ waved goodbye as PaRappa clicked the car into reverse, exiting the driveway. He set out on his way to his own home, waving one last time at PJ as he watched him walk inside his house.

He turned on the radio, the station set to a random rock channel. Smiling, he began tapping his hand on the wheel, excited for tomorrow, despite the downcast thoughts eating at him from the back of his mind.

 _*I guess that goes to show that believin' everything'll be alright has its perks.*_


	14. Movement

Katy parked her car in her favorite spot next to Lammy's at the building, smiling as she shut off the ignition. "Well Ma-San..you ready for another amazing practice session?"

The mouse played with the drum sticks in her hand, hitting them together to make a soft _tap_ sound. "Excited as I'll ever be." She looked up at her with a slight scowl. "And anyways, what's with Lammy not carpooling with us as usual? Suddenly decided that she's too good for us?"

The cat laughed at the statement. "No, silly! Don't you remember me telling you that PaRappa's coming today?"

A look a clarity came upon her face. "Oohhhhh...so that's why she was acting even more skittish than usual." She shrugged at the thought, and opened the door to get out. "What she's sees in that mutt, I'll never know."

"Hey." Katy poked her softly in the shoulder before she hopped off of the seat. "Don't you talk bad about who she likes. The heart wants what the heart wants. You don't see her teasing anyone you like, do you?"

The mouse blushed slightly as she began walking away, waving off her friend's concern. She muttered under her breath, _"*As if she would ever say anything bad about you…*"_

Katy got out of the car as well, and walked to the trunk, opening it and grabbing her guitar case aside the assorted drum cases inside. "You sure you don't need any help carrying your stuff in? I don't doubt you being strong enough at all, but it just seems like so much to carry…"

They always had to bring their instruments home with them in order to avoid them getting stolen. How she somehow managed to see past the towering bundle on instruments while she carried them inside each time (and not throw out her back), she never knew.

"I-I got it!" The mouse huffed as she roughly set each individual case on the ground, paying no mind to her friend's concerns. "Thanks though."

Katy shook her head as she watched her scoop the pile into her arms, deftly carrying it so it somehow did not fall back onto the ground again.

"If you say so...but I'm gonna buy us a dolly so you won't have to do that anymore.."

"That's what you said the last time too."

They both walked together into the building, which happened to be a large, abandoned warehouse. The trio managed to find this place on accident, and have successfully been able to use it for their practice sessions.

The inside was dimly lit from the sunlight peeking in through slightly crumbling walls and broken windows, with a musty scent carrying itself through the entire enclosure. Stray families of birds nested themselves in the metal pillars far above their heads, making good use of the broken lights (and also causing a bit more of a mess as well).

Of course, it used to look much worse a few years ago...Katy gave out a soft sigh as she remembered how the entire floor was littered with broken glass, assorted droppings (from who knows what), and even large chunks of splattered paint.

It was a tough effort to clean it up as best they could. But they've managed to do their best so far.

Ma-San set her dismantled drum kit onto the ground, the cymbals and drums inside the case clattering around as they landed on the concrete floor. From far away, a soft voice called out to them. "H-hey you guys!"

Katy smiled as she saw Lammy getting up from her spot on the floor, a pencil in one hand, and papers in the other.

 _*Huh...papers?*_

"Hey Lammy! So, uh…" The cat waved towards the stack in her grasp, noticing scribbled marks all over them. "Whatcha doing?"

"Oh! Um..t-these are the notes for the song...y-y'know.." She stuttered on her words as she tried to explain herself. "I-I-I was f-fixing them for..for, uh…"

"Ohhh...trying to make sure they're absolutely * _perfect*_ for our special guest today?" Katy grinned at her, wiggling her eyebrows impishly.

Lammy blushed noticeably, and pretended to wipe something from her face. "N-n-no…."

 _*Ugh. She knows me too well…*_

Of course she was nervous about today. Why wouldn't she?

And with this song they've been working on...she can't help but feel herself starting to panick.

The stupid words she had foolishly chosen sounded so..* _specific*_ , to say the least. She just..needed to fix it a little, is all. The last thing she would want would be for him to get suspicious.

And then what would happen?

Lammy let out a sigh a relief as she read over the papers one last time, scribbling in a few words here and there quickly before holding them out to her friend. ''What do you think of this?"

Katy reached for the papers, and read over them diligently, giving a curt nod to her. "Sounds alright to me! You ready for this?"

The lamb nodded at her, and went back to her guitar case, which was still on the floor. "Y-yup...d-d-do you think he'll b-be here soon?"

Ma-San, who had been listening to their conversation after she set up her drum kit, set down the book she was holding, and stated, "Relax Lammy. I don't think he'll really even figure it out. Not unless someone were to write it out for him in crayon, anyways." She smirked. "That dog is so oblivious to it all…"

Katy grinned at the mouse, taking no notice of how Lammy angrily huffed at her in response. "Oh, hey! Talking about him...you really should have seen what happened yesterday!"

Lammy tried to get up, nearly falling back down. "W-wait, no! D-d-don't…"

"What? What happened?" Ma-San looked back and forth between the two. She tapped her drumsticks against her thigh impatiently.

"Oh...just that PaRappa seemed to have reeaally liked seeing Lammy in her swimsuit, is all. * _If you know what I mean..*_ "

The mouse guffawed at this, crowing out, "* _Are you serious?!*_ " She slapped her knee, keeling over as she kept laughing hysterically.

Lammy set her head in her hands shamefully. * _Why….*_

Katy chuckled as she watched Ma-San continue to try to breathe from her laughing. Finally, she straightened herself back up, wiping a tear from her eye. "I can't believe that...ha.."

"I-it wasn't that funny…" An irked lamb pouted on the spot, twitching her ear irritatingly.

"No, I guess you're right...but that does leave an important question open now, Katy…."

Katy cocked her head at her. "..and what's that?"

She clapped her hands together. "(You think PaRappa finally wants to try a sample of that shank?)

The cat brought her hands to her mouth in complete shock. "(* _M-Ma-San!*)_ "

"(I mean, I guess PaRappa realized what he likes when the deli aisle opened!)

" _(*MA-SAN!*)_ " The cat's tail began swishing around angrily as she winced from yet another tasteless joke.

"(A dog needs a lot of meat in his diet, and I'm sure she can provide more than enough.)"

" _(*Stop!*)_ " She could feel the pure disgust bubbling up inside her.

"(Do you think she's feeling charitable enough to let him bring her home to have a private * _4-star dinner?*_ )"

"(Okay, I'm done.)" Katy brought a cautious paw to her mouth as she swayed on the spot, turning around slowly.

She's always hated these lewd jokes…

"(Alright, I'm finished. No need to get your tail in a twist.) She let out a squeaky laugh as the cat rubbed her forehead achingly.

Lammy twitched an ear in confusion. Why was Ma-San talking about food?

"You aren't hungry, are you Ma-San? I could maybe get us something to eat since there's still a bit of time before we-"

"I'm sure PaRappa is pretty hungry for something of yours to eat."

"W-WHAT!?" Lammy buried her head into her hands, feeling her face become scorching hot. "H-how could...i-it's not like that! N-not even-"

"Well, not yet! I am sure the circumstances would change if you were to, oh, I don't know, make him an offer he could not refuse?" The mouse then attempted a gruff voice, batting her eyelashes at her. "'Oh Lammy, just slip that swimsuit on again and I will do absolutely whatever you want!'"

Katy slapped Ma-San's shoulder hard enough to make her stumble. "Knock it off Ma-San! You're embarrassing her!" She pointed at the cowering lamb as she shakingly walked towards her guitar, still in its case on the floor. "Go and test your drums out, or something!"

The small bundle of dynamite began to spark atop her head. "It was just a joke! Are you unable to just relax, and enjoy a laugh every once in a while?!"

"Not when the person you're teasing can't handle it!"

"Maybe she should grow a backbone then!"

"WELL, MAYBE YOU SHOULD-"

"A-ahem…"

The two shouting girls quickly looked towards where the interrupting voice came from.

A dog in an orange beanie was standing timidly at the doorway. "Did I come at a bad time…?"

Neither of them moved until Ma-San exclaimed, "Ah! Speak of the devil!"

Katy shoved her aside, quickly bolting up so she can greet him. "Hey PaRappa! Glad to see you could make it!" After giving him a quick hug, she nervously stood before him, pointing over her shoulder. "You, uh, didn't hear all of that..did you?"

"Not really...just you two shouting at each other over somethin'." He looked back and forth between Katy and Ma-San, then asked, "Hey, where's Lammy at?"

At hearing her name, the lamb perked her head up, her ears flicking at hearing her name. She couldn't help but smile at hearing that voice, a small bolt of excitement going through her. * _Is that him?*_

The cat whipped her tail around smugly before waving towards the other end of the room. "She's over there, psyching herself up." She turned around and called out to her, "You got a visitor, Lammy!"

 _*Eep! It is him!_ * She frantically searched around her feet for her guitar case, hurriedly unbuckling it so she can take her instrument out.

PaRappa skipped over to her, happily saying, "Hey Lammy! I can't wait to hear you guys play! You have no idea how excited I am for this." He bounced on his spot, overcome with enthusiasm.

She finally stood up, bringing the guitar strap around her shoulder. Adjusting it slightly, she confidently responded, "Really? I guess you're in for a show then."

He wanted to say something back, but found his words stuck in his throat again. She wasn't wearing her usual attire; all she was wearing was a black sports bra and mahogany shorts.

PaRappa felt himself staring for a bit too long once again.

"U-uh..y-you look nice, Lammy." Which wasn't a lie at all. He found it strange that she was so self-conscious of herself, when she obviously had no reason to at all.

He also thought it strange that it just occurred to him that the other two girls in the band had changed their clothes as well for the practice session. Weird how when it came to Lammy, he felt…* _strange*_ , to say the least.

The lamb shyly looked over at Katy, who had appeared at her side, before turning back to him. "Hem…t-thank you."

The cat threw her own shoulder strap around herself, adjusting her bass guitar. "Lammy always gets incredibly into practice times..going into these ridiculous solos, and...oh wait!" She danced on the spot for a moment, excitedly shouting out, "Why am I just telling you this? You're here now; we'll just show you!" The cat whipped around at her fellow band members, and began pumping her hand into the air. "C'mon MilkCan! Let's get moving!"

Lammy brought a pick out from a pocket, bringing it forcing down on the strings. "No cutting corners!"

Ma-San sat down in her seat at her drum set, her feet dangling off the floor as he held her drumsticks. "Leave it to MilkCan!"

Ma-San suddenly brought down her sticks, playing off a quick beat before Katy and Lammy joined in alongside her.

The two guitarists played side by side, Katy beginning to sing out loud.

"* _On a lovely day, the sun sets in the sky_

 _The clouds gather, it starts to rain, all through the night.._

 _I watch them as they fall, feeling so worried_

 _What do I do? I can't forget, that I must stay strong_

 _Every single day, no matter what I say -_

 _It won't match what's inside my heart.._

 _I'll find myself still thinking of you_

 _Even after we've said our goodbyes_

 _But each day it always seems to grow stronger_

 _What am I supposed to do?_

 _And though you might not think much of it_

 _I hold each word you say so dearly_

 _You help me move on*"_

Lammy gave off a laugh as she continued playing, dancing around slightly as the song progressed.

PaRappa couldn't help but sway along to the song, feeling completely captivated by the catchy beat. Already, he began to think up words to go along with their playing.

 _*But that'll be for another time. If they invited me to that too, of course._

 _A dog could dream…*_

Katy whipped her tail around as she continued playing, and began to sing again.

"* _The sun begins to rise_

 _In a bright blue sky_

 _Another day, a sleepless night_

 _What else is new_

 _So now I face the day_

 _Headon, with my guitar_

 _But I still don't know, how long I'll go_

 _With you not knowing_

 _Sometimes it seems nice_

 _To follow your advice_

 _Yet I know what the truth'll be_

 _I know you won't ever see it in my way_

 _Mainly since you've shown me elsewise_

 _And it gets hard knowing that this is pointless_

 _But I keep my head up still!_

 _Yet who knows? I could be proven wrong_

 _And things could work out for the better_

 _I'll keep hoping on*_ "

Katy then suddenly shouted out, "Go Lammy! You got this!"

She gave a nervous smile, and walked up to the microphone, clearing her throat softly before singing aloud.

" _*I just hope, someday soon, you'll see the truth_

 _And whether or not you feel the same_

 _Just know that I'm still here-_

 _and I'll be thinking of you*"_

She then stepped back and began playing away on her guitar, her hand zipping up and down the frets as she strummed out an impressive solo. PaRappa watched in awe as he studied how fast she was going, with a solid look of concentration on her face as she focused on playing.

Amidst her frantic playing, she looked up and locked eyes with him. Her playing began to relax slightly, and her hand moved with less spirit than a few seconds ago.

Though he felt every fiber in his body telling him to look away, he couldn't help but stare back. He felt himself blushing as he watched her step back shyly.

Katy strutted over and elbowed her, shouting out, "Wow! That's probably the first time you didn't go completely overboard!" She looked at PaRappa and gave him a wink. "You should come to our practices more often!"

Lammy blushed heavily, turning away as she stepped back further and played along with Katy, who began to sing again.

" _*I know I should go with what's in my heart_

 _And try to move past all my fears_

 _Yet I still think about what could happen_

 _If you feel differently_

 _So though I wish for something more between us_

 _I'm happy with just staying as your friend_

 _and I'll keep hoping on_

 _Keep hoping on!_

 _Keep hoping on!_

 _Move on*...woo!"_

Finally, the two played a quick riff on their guitars before ending with a hefty strum, the sound echoing through the warehouse.

After a few moments of silence, PaRappa bolted up from his spot, clapping his hands excitedly as he shouted, "That was awesome! Woo! You guys played AMAZINGLY!"

Katy chuckled breathlessly as she heaved for air, her voice sounding soft after singing for so long. "Thanks! We practiced for a long while on that one.."

He jumped up and down in his spot. "Did you make all the words yourself again?"

Katy was known for being a fan of poetry; so naturally, she was the main girl who wrote most of their songs.

"Actually, that would be this girl, right here." She stepped aside and set a hand on Lammy's shoulder, who had been nonchalantly plucking at her guitar behind her. "She wrote the entire thing herself..with a little bit of help from me, of course!"

The dog stopped hopping in place as he stared at her in disbelief. "Wha...really? You made that song by yourself, Lammy?"

"I...uh...y-yeah…" She gave him a nervous smile. "D-did you like it?"

PaRappa shook his head. "I absolutely _loved_ it! You should write more songs!"

Katy patted her on the back softly. "I think so too!" She gave her a smile and walked away from the two. "Em, anyways, I thought I heard Ma-San calling out my name...you two hang tight!"

"(Wait, what? I didn't even say any-)"

" _(*Shush!*)_ "

The two watched her walked off before Lammy looked back towards PaRappa. "..y-you really like that song I made?"

He nodded eagerly at her. "Of course i did! It's probably a new favorite of mine, to be honest."

She gave a halfhearted smile at him. "Oh...that's good to hear.." The lamb turned away, walking off slowly.

"Wait, Lammy!" He ran up to walk alongside her. "Did i say something wrong?"

The guitar that was strapped around her was taken off, and set softly into the case on the ground. "N-no...not at all. But…" She shut it, clicking the handles securely. "I just thought that the words were too..sad, I guess." The lamb gazed up at him with a downhearted look. "Just..what if no one likes it? When we play it in front of an audience?"

PaRappa cocked his head at her concern. Now that he thought about it...

The song sounded amazing, of course. But when he thought about it, the words were really something else.

"Well...you know what? Everyone'll be too busy obsessing over how amazing it sounds before thinking of that!" He shyly rubbed his arm. "To be honest, I didn't think too much of the words until you pointed it out."

Her eyes widened at him and she hurriedly looked back towards her guitar case, fumbling with the handles. "O-oh..really?" She laughed nervously before clearing her throat. "W-well, no need to think about it t-too much! I, uh.."

The dog watched as she made an effort to shrug as nonchalantly as she could. "I-I-I just thought up t-the words one day, n-n-no big d-deal. It's n-not like I w-wrote it for anyone, or a-a-anything like that.."

She winced as the word vomit continued, despite her effort to stop it all. I _Shut up, shut up!*_

Now she's done it. If he had any reason to think that something was up with that song, that something weird was going on, now he would know for sure. And now he'll know.

 _*Oh no, oh no no no! This was a terrible idea! Why did I let Katy talk me into this?!*_

PaRappa smiled sympathetically at her for a few moments before asking, "That song is about that guy, isn't it?"

"I-I-I...u-um. What guy?" She laughed a little too hard as she tried to stay as calm as she could be. Her stomach began tying itself tight as she wished desperately for this all to be over with.

"Yeah...the one you didn't say that other night."

"O-oh, right! Heh..y-yeah. I-i-it was….yup."

"He's really missing out."

Lammy looked over at him alarmingly, not expecting such a comment from him. "W-what?"

"He is. Anyone who can make a song and play through it with all that raw emotion really is someone special." He gave a genuine smile to her, his tail wagging softly. "You're a really cool girl, Lammy."

She felt her face heat up even more at his explanation, and stood up, attempting to stutter out, "O-oh, t-t-thank you, PaRappa…."

From a bit ways away, Katy and Ma-San watched on in interest, both having differing reactions between themselves.

"(Gross. They're practically in love already.)" She made a quiet gagging sound while shaking her head.

"(I know! Isn't it so sweet?)", cooed Katy in response as she continued watching them. "(I just hope things will end up happening soon...all this suspense is killing me!)"

Lammy let out a small sigh of relief as she rubbed her neck nervously. * _All that worrying over nothing...again._

 _I have to stop doing that..*_

It was weird hearing such kind words from him. And referring to himself as such.

 _Well..if he only knew..but it's for the better, I guess..._

PaRappa, meanwhile, was happy she had put so much feeling into her song. It was really special when someone could do that.

He should know. All those raps he made especially for Sunny….and it didn't even matter.

A sudden pang of sadness hit him as the realization sank in once more. It bit down into his gut, making the bright smile on his face fade again; the same as all the other times he would remember it.

He seriously hated feeling like this..hopeless, upset over his uselessness in it all…especially when he was trying not to be.

It honest to God depressed him; and no matter what he could do, there wasn't really anything to stop it.

The prickling feeling he had become all too familiar with these past few days began to sting at his eyes, making him let out a pained whimper.

Lammy looked at him alarmingly. She held out a hand hesitantly, taking it back when she wasn't sure on what to do.

Right then and there, she noticed how absolutely exhausted he looked. How his hat was actually misaligned on its spot, and how there were dark rings under his eyes.

He really didn't look like his usual optimistic self...all he looked was….

 _Defeated._

The dog blinked at her slowly, making her realize that they'd both been staring at each other for a few moments now. She hurriedly tore her gaze away, feeling her cheeks burn at the realization.

"Hey...Lammy?"

"Y-y-y-yeah?" She quietly forced the words out, feeling herself becoming petrified in fear.

"..C'mere. You're too tall." He walked over and suddenly gave her a small hug, eliciting a quiet squeak from her.

 _..I…._

After a moment of hesitation, she slowly hugged him back, feeling as if her entire body was on fire.

She heard him give a small sniff, and quietly murmur, "..thanks for inviting me. You're a really good friend for sticking with me this entire time."

And he really meant it. These past few days have been hell for him..and it was only going to get worse tomorrow. He was tired, and depressed, and needed this...that wasn't too much to ask for, right?

"I..y-you're welcome PaRappa."

 _*I seriously can't believe this is happening...this has to be some sort of evil dream, or something. I'm gonna wake up soon. Any moment now._

 _Any...moment…._

… _...this isn't a dream then..this is for real.*_

From far away, Ma-San was watching Katy struggling to keep her excitement down.

"(I-I-I just can't even believe it! MA-SAN!)" She frantically pointed at the two as they let go of each other. "(Look! LOOK!)"

"(Yeah, I see it, relax.)"

PaRappa itched himself under his beanie nervously, a tired grin on his face as he held out his fist to her. "Best friends?"

She eyed it disappointingly before trying to give him a smile, reaching her own fist against his. "Best friends."

 _*Nothing more, and nothing less._

 _..but if we've made it this far, maybe he can change his mind…._

 _Just maybe…*_


	15. The Big News

Well. Today is the day.

The day he's been dreading for...who even knows how long, at this point?

It's finally here….

 _The last day Sunny is gonna be in town…._

 _The last day she could spend with her friends. Or something like that._

 _But no. She's 'too busy'. Too busy to spend one last day with her friends. With anyone._

 _...with me._

PaRappa was nonchalantly tossing a ball against the wall in his room while sitting against his bed, not feeling up to doing anything else at the moment. The..'feelings', he was having over the situation were beginning to make him feel nauseous.

He wasn't able to get much sleep again; even less than the day before. A dull beam of sunlight reached through the crack between the closed curtains of the window, reminding him how everyone else was still asleep at this ridiculous hour.

But it didn't even matter...since despite what he tried to do, she just didn't seem to care much. Despite how hard he believed, it didn't even matter…

He caught the ball once more, and simply started squeezing it, too deep in thought to want to throw it anymore. _What am I supposed to do?_

He didn't want to give up. Not yet. Not when there's just one day left.

But..what should he do that he hasn't done already?

He threw the ball at the wall angrily, growling under his breath as it bounced out of reach.

It bounced off the wall, off the nightstand next to his bed, and towards a dark corner of his room.

 _ **Clack!**_ The ball hit something small and mechanical. A gadget began making a soft whirring sound as it began moving its appendages; eventually, it powered on, its eyes whipping right open (one of them fluttering slightly) as it looked towards what had disturbed it.

It picked up the ball confusingly, then hobbled out of the corner. Upon seeing its depressed owner, it smiled and began walking towards him.

PaRappa didn't pay much mind to the contraption when it tried to speak to him in garbled static. It buzzed angrily at what was supposed to be its voice, smacking the side of itself angrily, and finally chirped out in a bubbly, yet grainy tone.

"Hey there PaRappa! You dropped your ball!" Boxxy Boy began dribbling it, giving his signature smile to him. "You, uh..wanna try another rap to get out of this slump you look like you're in?"

The dog didn't budge from his spot, and replied with a gloomy, "Nah."

"W-what?!" He abandoned the ball and ran over to his master's side, poking him in the arm. "You're not sick, are you? Since when don't you ever wanna rap?!"

"Since I've been feeling like this." He slumped over onto his side on the floor, his hat falling off slightly. "Sunny is moving away today. Ugh…" He covered his face in shame as he felt his eyes starting to water once more.

 _I don't think I even have it in me anymore..._

The robot buzzed in thought. "Sunny? Is that the flower girl that you've had me play your songs for?"

PaRappa sniffled slightly before sitting himself back up. "You seriously don't remember her that well?" He poked him in his side softly, making him wobble to retain his balance. "I think you're getting worse, man...we really have to fix you."

"N-no! I don't wanna be dismantled!" Boxxy Boy waved his arms around as he tried to show his displeasure with the very thought. "I'm not completely broken yet, so don't even think about it!"

The poor thing was several years old, by now...PaRappa could even remember his father asking if he would want to fix him a while back. To do that however, would mean to take him completely apart, in order to replace all the broken and worn parts inside of him. Which of course, the little robot was not very happy with.

"Fine, fine…" The dog waved his paw at him. He slumped down, a hand holding his head up as he stared down towards the floor. "But...yeah. The girl of my dreams; gonna be gone soon."

Boxxy Boy beeped sadly at him. He wobbled over, patting his leg softly. "Well...did you ask her not to?"

"I've said every single combination of words I could think of to get her to stay. And whaddya know? None of them worked…"

 _Big surprise._

"Hmmmm…" The robot tapped his foot thinkingly before snapping his fingers. "I have an idea! I'm not the best to give advice on this sort of thing, otherwise I would...so maybe you should ask someone else instead!"

"Wha..? Someone else?" PaRappa scowled at him. "What are you talking about?"

"I mean to ask someone else what you should say! Maybe there's something unsaid that you just haven't been able to think of! Is there anyone who you could ask for their insight?" He buzzed as he tried to think of a name. "How about...Kitty Kat?"

He snickered softly. "You mean Katy Kat?"

"Whichever Kat. That one you've been friends with for a long while now."

PaRappa hummed as he thought of her. "Well...honestly, she would just try and be all optimistic about it." He put on a falsetto voice as he twisted his tail in a catlike fashion, trying to mimic her cheerful attitude. "'Well gee PaRappa, even though the girl of your dreams and the very inspiration that helps you to rap is moving away, you just gotta keep your head up!'"

Ugh. It wasn't as if her positive demeanor was a bad thing though - it was very much enjoyable. Just...he didn't wanna deal with it right now. The last thing he needed was a pep talk from someone not in the same boat as him. Who probably wouldn't ever be in the same boat as him.

"Hmm, I see...what about that bear, then?"

"PJ?" He shook his head at him. "Yeah, no. He's done too much for me so far. Plus, I don't think he would know what to do either.." He can see it now...the bear just shrugging at him as he shoveled another donut into his mouth.

PJ never really did bother with that sort of stuff. So it wouldn't be wise to ask for his advice on the matter. Plus, it wouldn't be too ungrateful of him to ask for his help when he's already been so generous to him during these hard times.

"Well, you can't ask the flower girl, for obvious reasons…" He paced along the floor for a few moments, his feet making a soft _tapping_ sound in the near silent room, before stopping suddenly. "Oh, here's an idea!" The robot waved a finger at him. "Does the Kitty girl have any friends that would know about this sort of thing?"

"Uh..." At the mention of it, he instantly thought of Lammy. He began to remember how she sang so passionately, and then riffed away on her guitar. The music shook him down to his core, and he couldn't help but smile at reminiscing about it.

He remembered the sweet, nervous smile she would give to him whenever he would manage to catch her eye. A warm feeling began to grow inside him as he recalled the events from yesterday yet again...

" _Best friends?"_

" _...best friends."_

"Hello? Earth to space-dog!" He looked down to see Boxxy Boy waving a hand at him. "You spaced out for a bit there, buddy! Also, your face is red too now."

"Oh. Uh…" He rubbed his cheek embarrassingly. "Yeah, she has a friend I know. Lammy."

"Lamb-ee?" The robot clicked dismissively at him. "Your friends have weird, animal-specific names. But you think she would know?"

PaRappa grinned as he finally felt his mood beginning to lift. "Of course she would. She would know _exactly_ what to do in this situation!"

Or at least, the one who would know what to do better than he obviously could.

"I….I gotta call her. Or text her. Ask her to meet up soon so I can catch Sunny before she leaves." He jumped up, frightening the robot enough to make him fall on his back. "Phone, phone, where is.."

"Geez PaRappa!" Boxxy Boy hobbled towards the side of the room as the dog hastily clambered onto his bed. "Calm down, would ya?"

"No way!" He found his phone underneath his pillow, and hastily began texting her. "There's a small chance that Sunny won't leave - the sooner I can meet up with Lammy, the better!"

"Huh." The robot rose an eyebrow at him. "You're really excited to see this Lamb-ee girl, huh?"

"...uh huh." PaRappa texted away on his phone, his eyes glued to his screen, a dumb grin etched on his face.

"...and something tells me you aren't just excited to meet your friend."

"...yeah." The dog set his phone down, still smiling as he wagged his tail wildly. There was a deep blush evident in his face.

"...is there something up with you and her?"

"...I..wait, no, hold on." PaRappa sat himself back up, adjusting his hat so it sat on his head correctly. "W-we're just friends. Uh...best friends." He rubbed his arm as he tried to explain himself. "And I don't think Lammy feels like that anyways."

 _...right?_

 _...of course. Friends. I mean, best friends. Yeah.._

"Hmm." Boxxy Boy held his hands up as he wandered into his dark corner again. "I'm not saying that that would be bad. I think that would be a good thing, if I'll be honest. Y'know; in case it doesn't work out with Flower Girl."

"Wha...things'll work out...just…." PaRappa felt his good mood beginning to falter once again.

"You never know PaRappa! You gotta believe, sure, but sometimes, believing just isn't enough…" and with that, he powered back down, his eyes shutting close as he went to sleep mode.

 _...things will work out…_

…

 _stupid…. I really have to fix him._

Ever since his quality began to decline, Boxxy Boy hasn't exactly been one to go along with his overly optimistic way of life anymore. He's become increasingly blunt - now even going against his very own saying.

The dog sighed as he looked around himself in his room, the nauseous feeling beginning to return. Finally, he straightened himself out, reassuring himself that it simply wasn't true.

"No..you just wait and see. I have one shot left, and I ain't gonna miss it this time."

He quickly ran to the mirror in his room, adjusting his fur so that it didn't look so matted. After a few minutes of fixing it, he nodded at the mirror, winking at it.

"Don't look so sad..we got one last chance here." He jabbed a finger at his reflection. "And don't do anything to embarrass yourself!" Knowing how he was feeling right now, it was definitely a possibility.

Throwing open the door to his room, he ran down the stairs, slowing down to grab his key from the side of the door before going back on his way.

He quickly threw the door open to his car and hopped in, feeling a sense of hope beginning to energize him.

Feeling confident that things were going to go his way now, he grinned as he set the car into drive. _I knew I could do it..all I had to do was believe!_

 _Well...today's the day._

Today's the day when she will actually do it.

 _I can't believe I'm actually going to do it today.._

Yup. Today.

 _Why today? Maybe tomorrow would be better? Even though I know I shouldn't..._

Her thoughts keep chasing themselves around in circles.

 _I..don't know if I can do this actually…_

She feels sick to her stomach.

 _I...maybe...another…_

But she can't! Not again! Plus, Katy and Ma-San are expecting the big news...this time, for real.

She could still remember the conversation with them both earlier, and how they were both practically demanding her to do something.

" _Lammy, you seriously don't have anything to worry about! You were there yesterday, and you saw how well everything went!"_

" _C'mon Lammy! You don't do something, then I WILL."_

" _(Ma-San!) Ehm, don't listen to her..she's just impatient. And excited. But I am too! We both know there's something there.._

 _You just have to act on it, is all."_

She gave a small gulp as those last few words repeated themselves over and over again. _Act_ _on_ _it_ …

 _Act_ _on_ _it_..

That was so much easier said than done. But she's managed to convince herself (for the moment, at least) that it could very well be possible.

She was hopeful - mainly because she had proved herself wrong.

And with that, she couldn't help but feel a bit more secure in her thoughts. And that maybe all this fear, all the worrying and thinking about what could and could not be…

...didn't matter. It didn't matter, since what really did matter was actually doing something.

 _You just have to act on it, is all._

 _Yeah...act on it...I can do this…_

….

…..

…..

... _I don't think I can do this._

It was difficult trying to sort it all out in her head. Thankfully, the dog walking alongside her didn't seem to catch any of her flustered demeanor.

The two were walking through the park, enjoying the crisp evening together. PaRappa had again asked her to accompany him..this time, for something he said was _very important._

Needless to say, she had no idea what he meant by that, but she was undoubtedly going to worry about it anyways. Along with everything else.

 _I...think I should say something to start it off, i guess…_

 _..but what? Maybe… 'hey, if you're not doing anything tomorrow, you wanna do something? And maybe it could be less…_

 _less…..'_

 _..._

She couldn't remember the word she was thinking of. At trying to form the thoughts into a sentence, her mouth went completely dry, forcing her to stay silent.

 _...no. That just sounds really dumb anyways. But what else could I say?_

 _..I don't even-_

"Lammy?"

She looked over at him, noticing how he had stopped walking alongside her, and was standing a short ways away.

"Oh..s-sorry…" She walked back over to him, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. "I..I-I didn't even notice..um…."

 _You're acting way too nervous. You have to relax so he doesn't get suspicious._

The lamb took in a relaxing breath as PaRappa shrugged at her. "S'okay." He looked down at the ground as he shuffled his foot nonchalantly, dragging a bit of grass with it.

She tried to clear her throat. _Guitar in your mind, c'mon…._

"W-well...uh, I….I was k-kinda w-w-wondering something..PaRappa."

He looked up at her. "Yeah?"

 _No, stop looking at me like that!_ She stared directly at the ground, trying to force the words out. "I...I-I-I...I…" She shook her head. "I…."

He smiled at her. "No need to be so nervous still Lammy. But uh...I still do have to talk with you about something though, just really quick…."

Her eyes widened. _Right…_

 _The really really important thing...whatever it is…_

She noticed her breathing becoming just a tad more rapid as she waited for him to speak his mind. _Relax! Don't..don't worry about it…_

He looked thoughtful for a moment, but finally began to speak. "I...I need advice on something. And i thought of all people to know best..it'd be you."

She felt herself blushing at the compliment. "O-okay…"

 _Advice? About..._

He heaved out a low sigh. "...you know that Sunny is leaving later today, right?"

 _..._

… _..Sunny?_

 _..._

 _But then...that would mean.._

Lammy felt her heart drop down to her stomach. _No..no, it can't.._

Sure enough, he took her hesitation as a sign to explain a bit more. "I don't want her to go. I REALLY don't want her to go..but that's a huge understatement…." He itched underneath his beanie. "I just thought...you'd probably know best in this situation, since nothing I've done is working...what do I do?"

 _But...we were doing so well…_

 _I thought for sure that he moved on by now...and…_

Her eyes started to prick slightly, but she was too caught up in her thoughts to notice the sensation.

 _I can't believe it. I actually managed to trick myself into thinking that...things could work out, for once._

 _I'm such an-_

"Lammy? You ok?" A questioning dog tilted his head slightly as he noticed his friend's eyes starting to water. It was just a question…

She shakingly reached a hand up to wipe away any stray tears, muttering, "O-oh yeah, I'm fine..just...I'm so flattered you came to me to ask something big like that. It..means a lot to me...is all…."

He didn't expect any praise from her, and shyly rubbed the back of his head at her feigned compliment. "Oh! Huh...thanks!" PaRappa shrugged, and said, "I just figured, since we've managed to become better friends and all, you would be the best to ask. I know it's a lot to ask….but I would probably take anything at this point…"

She furrowed her brow at this, realizing she's been caught in a bit of a corner now. _Well..._

 _On one hand, I guess I can just tell him to give it up. Tell him that there isn't anything be can do..._

 _Sure. But…_

 _That wouldn't be right._

 _So on the other hand…_

…

Lammy let out a defeated sigh. She desperately didn't want to. She wanted things to go a different way for herself. To finally prove herself wrong for once. But...it wouldn't be right.

 _Just might as well should get it over with..._

"I..I think you should honestly tell her how you feel. Pour your heart out to let her see it all. No fancy show, nothing like that, just to show the pure authenticity of it all." She looked down towards her feet, trying to push the words past her aching throat. "And maybe after that, she would be so thrilled you feel like that..that..she might stay…"

She knew that she herself would.

There were a few moments of silence between them, with Lammy still staring toward the ground. A slight breeze went through the air, making the leaves on the trees around them rustle. When she decided to finally look back up at him, she saw him watching her carefully.

"I-I...uh...y'know what I mean? Heh…" The lamb rubbed her arm as she shifted on the spot awkwardly.

PaRappa finally bolted up, clapping his hands together and frightening her. "Great! That sounds like an awesome plan! I..gotta get going then. See you around?"

The lamb gave a nervous gulp. _Looks like he forgot I had to tell him something too.._

 _Doesn't matter anymore though…_ She quietly muttered, "Sure. Maybe. See you around."

He didn't hear much as he was already about to run off, and distractedly muttered, "Oh cool! Yeah, okay, bye! See ya!"

Lammy watched him about to head on his way, but not before he turned on his heel and ran back to her. He gave her a small smile and hugged her, quickly muttering, "Thanks. You're an awesome friend."

' _Friend'._ There it is again...

That word that's managed to make her so happy, yet so upset, at the same time.

He let go and began to run off, shouting out over her shoulder, "I'll see ya later Lammy!" She watched him disappear behind a corner, and stood still for a few moments, not sure on what to do.

She was feeling incredibly numb after what had just happened. Her mind was abuzz with the news she had heard...she didn't know what to do now.

She thought she felt sick earlier..but now…

What does she even _do now?_

…

 _No. No no no no, not here, please no…_

Her eyes had started to prick again, and she could plainly feel something wet fall down her cheek. She brought a hand up to wipe it away, but it was quickly replaced by another.

Nobody else was around her to see it, except for one blue cat who had stepped out of her car to see her friend standing alone.

Katy felt the fur on the back of her neck prickle as she eyed Lammy. She had an incredibly ominous feeling earlier...like something bad would happen. Whatever it was, she didn't know; all she knew was she had to get down to the park as fast as she could.

But after seeing PaRappa bolt off and Lammy simply watching him go, she couldn't help but feel a rising sense of alarm. It rose up in her throat and escaped in a nervous shout.

"L..Lammy!"

The lamb kept her back turned to her, and brought her arms around herself, her shoulders starting to shake now. Soon, an audible sniff could be heard from her.

Now she was for sure. Things hadn't gone smoothly at all.

Katy sprinted across the sidewalk to her friend's side. "Lammy? What…" She didn't say anything, and simply turned away from her.

"I knew nothing was going to happen! Why did I even let my hopes up?!" Katy shrunk back from her words, which were seeping with regret. "And now..he's gonna…." She croaked out the words, wiping her cheek again with the back of her arm. "I really was gonna...but now..I can't!" A small squeak came from her as she finally began breaking down, burying her head in her hands.

"Lammy! I-it's okay!" Katy embraced her friend, desperately not wanting her to be so distressed. "I-I know things are bad, but…"

She couldn't stand to hear her so upset. Soon, she felt her own tears go down her face. "L-Lammy! P-please, don't be sad!

Please…"


	16. Sunny

**I just wanted to tell everyone who had left such wonderful comments thank you so much! I've read and greatly appreciate absolutely every single one~ :') I would respond to each one, but I don't really know how to traverse this website...**

 **Again, thank you all so much~ 3**

-Sunny- -Sorry to bother you, but i need to talk to you about something in person before you go- -Its really important. Just this one last thing and i promise i wont say anything else-

-PaRappa, i already have all my things packed and was about to get going already. I really have to go before traffic sets in.-

-please Sunny? I promise itll be quick-

…

-Alright. Just meet me outside of my house then. I'll be in the garden.-

He eyed the words once more as he turned the wheel off of the highway, making sure to go slowly as to not crash into anyone.

Sure, he wasn't really one to be on his phone when he was driving...but he couldn't help it this time. His heart raced as he continued driving down the road, the telltale signs of nearing her house making him impatient as the buildings became sparse and the ride became bumpy.

Forcing himself to look at the street, he eyed the side until he finally came across the house. It still was in the shape of a lemon...must be a trend for flora to have lots of fellow plants near them. Even if they also embodied your home.

A recent addition to it was the small, beautiful garden surrounded by a picket fence at the side of it. All sorts of vegetables, from carrots in the dirt to tomatoes growing on supported vines sprouted all throughout it. And sure enough, tending to the few plants that were unable to move along with her..

The girl of his dreams...Sunny Funny….

Getting ready to go, and leave him behind..

She suddenly stood up, wiping a few specks of dirt off of her dress, and waved to him, her signature, sweet smile already making his heart ache.

He carefully pulled onto the side of the road, parking it as he left his phone inside the car. Jumping out of the seat and shutting the door, he wrung his hands as he tried to go over the words in his head again.

 _Well..I hope this works…_

 _I gotta believe it can, at least. Just remember what Lammy told you…_

 _No big show. Just pour your heart out for her._

PaRappa walked over to the short gate enclosing the garden, and opened it carefully, feeling his heartbeat starting to speed up. Walking through the assorted plants, he finally met her in a small clearing.

He felt himself blush as he gazed at her. She's grown to be slightly taller than him, with all her petals now fully bloomed. A mint green simple dress, covered with soft pink and cream stripes adorned her, bringing out her red lipstick.

 _She still looks so pretty…_

Shaking his head slightly, he let off an ecstatic smile, walking up to her and encasing her in a tight hug. "It's so great to see you Sunny! I feel like it's been forever since I've last seen you…"

She returned the hug halfheartedly, simply remarking, "It's definitely been a while…"

He eventually let go of her, reminding himself to be conscious of the space she was occupying. Looking away from her, he quietly cleared his throat. "So, uh…I.." The dog looked around at all the surrounding plants. "..you weren't able to take all your plants with you?"

She shook her head. "No...I've definitely tried, though. I think it would be best to just leave them here; so that they can just grow and do their own thing. It's not like I can't just get new ones where I'm going anyways."

 _...wow._ He nodded his head slowly. "Right, right…"

 _Ugh...ignore that. Just...a weird parallel._

' _Pour your heart out to her.'_

"I...was just hoping to talk to you about something, Sunny. About...this." He waved around himself and at her packed truck in the distance.

The flower girl let out a tired sigh. "What is there to talk about PaRappa? I already told you guys everything."

 _Great..there she goes again with that._ "...y..you didn't though…" Feeling a rising anger in him, he put on a high pitched voice, swishing his tail this way and that.

"A short and sweet, _'oh by the way, I'm gonna be moving away forever soon; I'll just stop talking to you all even though we've all been friends for a few years now, and practically think of each other like family, so bye! Tee hee!'_ isn't exactly the easiest thing to get through your head. _"_ He looked over at her with a hurt glare when he was finished.

She frowned at his charade. "That isn't very nice, PaRappa…"

"Well..no. It's not. Is it?" He paced on the spot, willing himself to stay strong despite the growing ball of pain inside him. "I-I-I guess it doesn't really feel good when you're on the receiving end, for once.." His head was dazed from the rush of finally being able to say it all. Or at least a fraction of what he felt.

"...you said you had something you needed to say to me, didn't you?" She set her hands on her hips. "I really have to get going...just…" She waved a hand around in a circular motion.

He gritted his teeth at the impatient gesture. _Alright, you know what? No. That's it._

 _Forget being nice. Forget trying to show all the feelings. Nothing f***kng matters, so I don't even care anymore._

The small string holding himself together snapped at her indifferent words, causing him to irritatingly grumble out, "No." It ate at him that she would simply dump him into the same category as every other person she knew of..like he didn't even matter to her.

"Just...why are you even moving away in the first place? What's so bad about here? I-I...I just need to know. To know _why_ you're being so...so...I don't even know!" His joyful demeanor had finally diminished, leaving behind a desperate dog wanting to understand it all.

This was a topic they've been avoiding and tiptoeing around for far too long. She was incredibly vague when she told the news to everyone - at the very least, he just wanted to know the truth of it all.

Why she seemed to think that this little town wasn't good enough. Or her friends. Or him..

She let out a soft sigh, smoothing out the bottom of her dress. "Well..it's because there's nothing for me here."

He felt his heart shatter completely into pieces at this. _Huh..? Not even me?_

She continued. "Out there, in the city...there's so much I'll be able to do. There's opportunities for me left and right, to be able to do whatever I want, when I want. It's...too restricting here." She gazed over at him sadly. "I want to be more than just the girl that gets everything that she wants. More than just a pretty face to people. I want to make something of myself."

"B-but Sunny..you are!" He just didn't understand it at all. You'd think someone would like that..wouldn't they?

 _But..she does have a bit of a point…_

Sunny has always been able to get pretty much anything she wanted. Whether it be from her adoring father, the smitten townspeople...him. He can even barely recall her using this little privilege of hers in not-so-sweet ways..it wasn't like anyone cared, however.

No one but her, it turns out.

"...I'm sorry PaRappa. But this is what I want, and I've decided on it."

"Please Sunny…" He could feel his eyes starting to water, his voice becoming cracked with despair. "D-don't go...I've grown so much because of you…

 _No no no, it can't happen..._

She was the reason he matured so much...he honestly had no idea where he'd be if it wasn't for her. Without a license? No job? Who knows?

"PaRappa…" She held out her hand, and he hesitantly took it in his. "I'm sorry it has to be like this.." He felt her start to rub her thumb across it slowly, making him start to blush once more. "But...you need to move on."

.. _what?_

"That's why I think it would be best if we didn't keep in touch. So you don't get stuck in this little cycle of waiting, hoping…"

"...am I not gonna be able to see you anymore?"

She looked down, not wanting to look at him. "..no."

... _this has to be some sort of joke. Any minute now, she's gonna start laughing, and it'll all be some dumb prank we can laugh about later._

 _..like old times. Right?_

But even after waiting for a few moments in silence, she didn't seem to be doing anything of the sort. She let go of his hand, and began to turn away.

Stepping back, her eyes appeared slightly glossy. "Bye PaRappa. Thanks for talking with me before I left."

And with that, she gave one small wave and opened the garden gate, not bothering to shut it behind her. She disappeared around the edge of the house, with the slam of her door in the near silence making him flinch.

From far away, he could hear the truck roar to life, and then see it now driving off into the distance, packed to the brim with all sorts of boxes..and then it was gone.

He faltered over to a nearby garden bench, sitting down on it slowly, as the recent events began to play themselves in his head again. He mournfully rubbed his ear softly, the rollercoaster of emotions he went on such a strange juxtaposition to the bizarre numbness he was feeling currently.

 _...she's gone. She's completely gone. It didn't work._

 _What do I do now?_


	17. Two Sheep

It was a dark night in PaRappa Town - the absence of moonlight made it seem as if it were all encased in shadow, apart from the sparse lights that a handful of buildings had on.

One of these buildings had but only one lit up room, of who the resident in was watching the world snail by through her window. She took a slow mouthful from the half empty bottle in her hand before walking back through the room again.

After letting out a long, drawn out sigh, she stumbled back over to the couch, falling down onto it as she lost her balance. Another round of tears began prickling at her eyes again.

 _I can't even believe that it's all over…_

Lammy took another gulp from the bottle in her hand, letting it clatter to the floor when it was completely empty. She wasn't much of a drinker at all..but this was as good of an excuse as any to let herself go for just this once.

 _I...still can't believe he's actually with Sunny now.._

 _Why'd I have to get my hopes up so badly?_

Even though it had been simply yesterday, It still hurt just as intensely; after Katy tried to console her, she just wanted to be left home alone; she needed a few days to herself before she went back to work.

Shoving aside an empty bottle, she tried to sit herself up, feeling incredibly dizzy. She wobbled as she tried to stand up, holding onto the couch for balance.

 _Stupid...fridge. Being so far away…_

 _Stupid...dog. Making me think that I actually had a chance with him._

Suddenly, a foul realization hit her in the face, making her fall back down into the couch. _What if...he actually did know this entire time?_

 _And he just went along with it all, to see how far he could go with it.._

 _And when I was gonna tell him..he sprung the news on me, just to laugh in my face about it._

 _..what if he's laughing about it right now..?_

She could envision it now - PaRappa guffawing as he relayed the news to his new girlfriend, who of which just began to laugh along with him as she began to bring her belongings back into her old house.

' _Can you believe I actually tricked her into thinking that? Haha!'_

' _Haha! What a loser!'_

Considering all that's happened, the thought didn't seem too far - especially to her inebriated mind.

"O..oh my God!"

She began to hysterically sob, hanging her head down as she covered her face. _I'm such an idiot!_

The lamb didn't register the loud noises outside her door just then - or how they were leading right up to her doorstep.

 _ **Knock knock knock!**_ Someone harshly knocked upon the door, but to deaf ears, as Lammy was still weeping over the assumed news she had thought of.

After a few moments of silence (besides her tearful noises), a raspy sigh grumbled outside her apartment door irritatingly before slamming it open.

 _ **BLAM!**_ Lammy jolted on the spot, falling off the couch and ungracefully onto the floor with a startled yelp.

An angry ram marched into the apartment, slamming the door back behind her, not caring that it was partly off of its hinges now. She strode into the room, barking out, "Where are you?! I know you're in here somewhere!"

The lamb meekly poked her head out from behind it. "R...Rammy?"

In an attempt to identify herself as separate from the lamb (since she was always confused with her whenever she came to the surface), she adopted a completely different wardrobe. Her hair was now partly dyed silver, with a sleeveless leather jacket adorning her. She wore charcoal-gray pants with plenty of tears and rips, that went right above a pair of hefty boots.

The ram pointed angrily at her counterpart, twitching one of her pierced ears. "There you are..I have something to say to ya. Get out here so I can talk face to face. None of this groveling bullshit."

She watched as she crawled out from behind the couch, then attempted to get back onto her feet. Her eyes widened as she finally noticed how she was incredibly off balance.

"What the...you..?" The ram walked over to her, setting a hand onto her shoulder as she eyed all the empty bottles. "The Hell..? You've been drinking?" She glared at ther suspiciously. "You never drink.."

Lammy sniffled softly. "I..I..I just wanted to relax." Her voice was soft and slurred, and she began to tear up again. "I...uh...had a rough few days, ish all."

The ram let out a low grumble as she grabbed her wrist and led her back to the couch. She sat down upon it as well, and eyed her questioningly. "...you don't drink. What happened? _Why_ are there screwdriver bottles everywhere? _Why are you crying?_ "

Lammy tried to rub her eye as she began sniffling once more. "I..it'sh not important. W..why, anyways, do you care? And wh..what are you doing here?"

Rammy ignored the obvious jumbling of her words, and waved at herself. "Hey..I'm trying to change, aren't I? And I felt something was wrong - I didn't expect whatever it was to be this bad, though. So spit it out."

"I..I…" Her voice became croaked as she started to talk. "I-It's about..uh...PaRappa…"

An amused grunt was let out of her. "That dumb mutt is the reason why you're crying? Thought you knew how to take care of yourself. Y'know..after what happened to your old guitar."

The lamb began shake as she remembered the seemingly horrific events. "O-oh my gosh! My poor _guitaaarrr….._ "

"No, Lammy, for f**ks sake.." She set her hands on her shoulders and shook her softly. "Stop. I was _trying_ to say; you don't let anyone say anything bad to you anymore. So what's with the waterworks?"

"I...he…" She stammered as she tried to get the words out, until she looked away and lowly stated, "I..I really liked him. A lot. Too much..and..things were g-going so well with us, that…" She motioned with her hands weakly. "I..I was gonna tell him. But..b-before i could..he…" Her eyes became full of tears once more.

Rammy rolled her eyes, though she was genuinely interested in her story now. "So he said no. Too bad, so sad. Get over it."

"No! He….he asked me how to make Sunny stay..and then h-h-he just ran off!" She started to hysterically sob once more, and weakly said, "I-It's not that he doesn't feel the same, I could live with that - been living with it for years now..b-b-but it's that he just cares..so much about her...t-that I can't help but feel so...so….."

The ram rose an eyebrow. "So what?"

"So...s-so much _worse_ compared to her.." She gazed at her counterpart with hurt in her eyes. "Look at me. D-don't even compare to her, and couldn't ever no matter how hard i try..no wonder he likes her; I'm just a stupid, ugly old goat that-"

"Now you just stop right there." Rammy angrily held onto Lammy's arms, making her immediately halt in her ramblings, and stared into her eyes. "Don't say that. Don't you _dare_ ever say anything like that, ever again, because that is not true. You're amazing." She jabbed a finger into her chest, making the lamb wince. "You're the strongest, bravest ewe I know." She defeatedly looked away. "And yes, I'm including myself."

The lamb watched as her doppelganger let go of her, and began motioning about with her hands as she went into explanation. "You saved a burning building, flew a plane, went to literal _Hell_ and back: just to try and make it to your concert, with the band that you put so much of your own heart into." She pointed at Lammy. "Has that girl ever done anything like that?"

"U-uhh..I-I don't th-"

"You shouldn't ever compare yourself to anyone at all. You're amazing, talented, cute, and strong - and if that dumb mutt can't see that, then he can...just…" She angrily motioned with her hands once again, and then looked back up at Lammy. "You see what I'm saying?"

The lamb blinked once at her before slurring, "Y..you think I'm cute?"

Rammy jumped off the couch, her face noticeably blushing. "WHAT?! N-NO! Don't put words into my mouth! And have you not heard a _single word I've said?!_ "

" _Ack_ , yes, I have!" She cowered down from her loud shouting. "I..I just really don't feel like all that, though.."

"Shut up. You are. The sooner you get that through your thick skull, the better." "She sat back down next to her with a heavy sigh. "If you're anything like me, which you are, this ain't anything to worry about."

"W..well...if you say so, I guess…"

They sat in silence for a few moments, before Rammy stood back up. She cleared her throat anxiously. "Y-your house is a mess….how do you live like this?"

"Uh…" Lammy nudged an empty bottle on the floor with her foot. "Must've gotten out of hand with it all…"

"Ugh...here, just stay there and don't die, you lightweight. I'll get this cleaned up.." She began picking up all the bottles, grumbling under her breath, " _I_ _swear_ , _even_ _in_ _Hell_ _we_ _have_ _some_ _standards_.."

Lammy sat in silence, watching the ram pick up the bottles. She contemplated getting up for another and asking Rammy is she'd like one, before there was a rapid knock at the door.

Rammy threw the bottles into the trash, growling at the interruption. "What the..." She took a quick glance at a clock on the wall. "It's way too late for anyone to-"

 _ **Knockknockknockknockknock**_ \- "ALRIGHT! JUST HOLD ON!" The ram angrily stomped over to the door.

"W-wait!" Lammy unsteadily got herself up off the couch, snatching a half empty bottle in the process ( _I was wondering where that went…)_ "I-I don't want anyone to confuse the two of us again…" That's the last thing she needed to deal with right now. "I'll take it from here."

She rolled her eyes and walked away. "Fine. I'll go tidy up your absolute pigsty of a home."

Lammy turned towards the door and slowly turned the knob, taking a quick drink out of the bottle before opening it.

Her eyes widened as she look down upon the person in front of the door, the familiar feeling of excitement and pain reminding her of it all over again.

"W..what are _you_ doing here?"


	18. A Strange Dream

PaRappa opened up his eyes to see a few beams of moonlight coming in through the blinds on his window. He rose up from bed, not feeling like sleeping anymore.

There was absolute silence in the house. A pin could drop, and he would be able to hear it perfectly. No other sound was being made…

He could practically hear his own heartbeat.

 _I don't like this._

It was incredibly unnerving. He was always having a song going through his mind, or at least some semblance of a beat, with words trying to fit themselves along them. From the time he woke up, to when he shut his eyes at the end of the day.

But lately...it's died out. He doesn't have it in him anymore.

There wasnt a muse for him to play for anymore.

He grabbed his beanie off his nightstand, and sadly studied the heart symbol sewn into it. It was incredibly special to him...the person who made it for him poured the last bit of her life into making this hat for him.

And now she's gone.

He set the hat atop of his head, and picked up a dusted picture frame that had been right next to his hat.

A flower girl smiled back at him, creating a whole stew of emotions broil within him; joy, embarrassment, anger.

She was another source of inspiration for him; she, of course, was the one that caused him to attempt to better himself, to try and learn important things he would need in life - to become mature.

..and now she was gone too.

He opened a drawer and set the frame face down in it, not wanting to look at it anymore.

Closing it, PaRappa got up from his bed and went off through the house, wondering what to do now.

He was alone at home. His dad was out of town for something work related, and his sister still at a friend's sleepover. No one home but him and the floorboards..unfortunately.

Sitting down on the couch in the living room, he sat for a moment, contemplating on what his friends would be doing right about now.

PJ might be out DJing somewhere, or doing something else dumb...like making a donut run.

Katy would probably be at her job right about now. So weird how she's able to go off practically no sleep at all and still function..where does she get all that energy from?

Ma-San? Who knows. Last time he asked her something, he ended up getting a drumstick stuck in his….well, it was his fault for coming off rude in the first place. So he wouldn't blame her.

And Lammy? Probably not playing her guitar...she's told him stories recently of how she got chewed out by grumpy neighbors in her apartment complex when she attempted to practice her guitar.

He gave a small laugh to himself, which sounded incredibly loud in the dead silent house. Looking for the remote, he switched on the TV so he could have a bit of background noise.

It was so weird to have to deal with utter silence all the time. Is this what other people have to deal with? This suffocating quiet constantly?

What a terrible way to live.

Glancing out the window at the sea of darkened grass, he let out a small sigh, still feeling completely defeated and empty.

 _Well...it's my way of living now…_

PaRappa let out a small breath, looking up at the ceiling as he contemplated on what to do now. What was he supposed to do with himself now that he couldn't rap anymore?

What was he supposed to do now that it had completely vanished?

The silence was starting to eat away at him. It buzzed loudly in his ears; it was becoming grating, and made him want to cover his ears in pain.

He fished for his phone in his pocket, taking it out and swiping the screen. _Maybe I have something in here to play…_ a bit of music was always nice to lighten the mood. Or at the least, provide something to listen to.

Glancing through the library of songs on it, his eyes caught a certain name. _MilkCan._

He instantly began to remember the practice session he was invited to - that amazing song that he could listen to for hours, the girls each playing so adeptly..Lammy stepping up and singing in the most wonderful voice ever…

His thoughts began to wander as he thought of her..from her beautiful playing and singing, to the way she smiled at him when he talked to her.

It made him feel all _weird_...for lack of a better term.

The dog set his phone back down, and let out a small yawn. He was feeling incredibly drowsy all of a sudden - but of course, he could tell he was the slightest bit happy at remembering her playing, for whatever reason.

In fact, he could swear he heard the faintest beat thrumming through the house now...it wasn't as quiet anymore.

 _Maybe now I can finally head back to sleep - and actually stay asleep this time._

Shutting off the TV, he headed back to his room, slamming the door behind him. As soon as he drew near his bed, the same, degrading thoughts began to circle around in his head unwelcomingly.

 _Of course not. Soon as I try to relax, I can't help but remember it all.._

He shuts his eyes tightly as the painful thoughts cross his mind once again, making him whimper dejectedly. His eyes still hurt from crying some time ago, leaving his head aching sorely as he tried to get comfortable.

 _I still can't believe she's gone. She was everything to me. Everything that I've ever cared about, pretty much..and now...what do I do now?_

He supposed to be the guy known for keeping everybody's hopes alives - the one to affirm their wants, to tell them to just go for it. To just believe they can do whatever they put their mind to. But that seems like the complete opposite nowadays.

 _I feel so alone...like no one can fill that void now.._ he reached up to place a hand on his chest. _She's gone.._

… _.I'm sure I just need some sleep..to have a better head in the morning._ This sort of pessimistic talk was incredibly unlike him - it was starting to scare him.

He didn't wanna go into a sort of weird downward spiral; tomorrow he'll figure out what to do. It'll all work out…

Hopefully...he has to believe it can.

He lets his eyes droop, trying to ignore how they were already starting to lightly water again. _Gone._

 _..gone…_

… _.gone…_

..

" _PaRappaaaa_ …"

".. _PaRappa. Hey!_ "

"... _HEY! Wake up!_ "

He grumbled softly as he lifted his head up to look at where the voice had come from. Rubbing his eyes, he glared at the foot of his bed, and was caught off guard by what he saw.

"L...Lammy?"

She gave him a sly smile. "Hey there, sleepyhead. I have a surprise for you."

His mind buzzed as he tried to process her words. _Wait..is she…._

The lamb continued smiling as she adjusted what she was wearing. "And I hope you don't mind that i'm wearing the swimsuit you liked me in so much..i mean, I could plainly see how you did the other day."

The reflective surface of it made it look as if she was illuminated from what little light was in the room. He choked on the words he couldn't piece together; sitting there gawking at her, he watched as she brought her guitar around from her back and started tuning it.

"Mm..speechless?" She giggled at his stunned silence. The sounds of her and her instrument seemed strangely distant...yet it still registered brightly in his head.

"I-I...uuhhh…"

"But I noticed you looked really down..i know what'll cheer you up though. Hopefully you won't mind, right?" She let a hand strum the strings on it, a pleasant sound reverberating through the room. "Want me to play you that song you really like?"

She began to strum the guitar slowly, her hands shifting up and down the frets. She started to softly sing, her voice making his entire heart melt.

" _On a lovely day…."_ The way she soothingly sang it slowly made him dreamingly smile. It sounded more like a lovey sort of ballad now, instead of the hyper song it had been before.

He sits in awe as he watches her continue to play, walking over to the edge of the bed and sitting down on it. Suddenly, he realizes how close she was to him. ''W-wait, Lammy..what's gotten into you?"

Even with that guitar, she's always managed to be just a tad withdrawn around him. This confident side of her rarely comes out...especially in a manner such as this.

It made his head spin as he tried to think about it.. _This is just so unlike her.._

" _What do I do? I can't hold back, the things I'm feeling..._ " She keeps singing, her voice becoming quieter as she moves closer to him, eventually sitting right at his side.

"L-Lammy, wait, d-d-don't come any closer..p-please.."

She continues strumming her guitar. "Hmm..yeah, I can tell. Really easy to see~" He feels his face burn intensely when she glances downwards for just a moment, a mischievous smile growing on her face.

He tries to scoot away from her, but ends up having his back against the wall. " _L-L-Lammy-_ "

"Shusshh…" She stops playing, and raises a finger up to his lips. Setting down her guitar, she crawls over to him, making his entire body feel heated.

Her face is only a few inches away from his as she softly mutters, ''Silly...don't you have any idea why i'm doing this?"

" _U-uh...I-I-I…_ "

"It's because I want you. I want you so, so bad…"

He feels his breath hitch in his throat at the statement. " _H-holy shit…_ " _This_ _can't_ _be_ _happening_...

"...but you know what? I think deep deep down, you want _me_ even more."

He feels his hands reaching up slightly as he lets out a pitiful whine. "I…"

"Hmmm..don't you?" Her eyes were gazing into his. He began to squirm as he tried to think of what to say.

Feeling his mouth moving of its own accord, he blurts it out. "I..i do want you! I-I-I want your heart, and y-your body - you're a-a-amazing..a-and I j-just-"

" _Then take me. Right now._ " she somehow manages to be even closer to him, her warm breath on his fur making him fidget in tempted agony. " _Please...please!_ "

" _Aahhn - Lammy!_ " He reaches up completely and tries to grab her, only for his hands to grasp around his pillow.

His eye bolt wide open as he pants heavily, sweat drenching himself and his bed. _It...it was all a dream?_ Somehow, he's managed to be completely against the wall during his lucid episode; his back ached as he scooched away from it, stretching himself out sorely.

Giving a despondent glance to the pillow on top of him, he shoved it aside as he rubbed his hands on his face.

 _What a bizarre dream...Lammy in her swimsuit..that song.._

 _That amazing song..and…._

He feels his stomach drop slightly as a sudden realization hits him. _Wait a minute. Oh, when was the last time I've even talked to her?_

The last time would have been...when he asked her for advice about Sunny. And that was yesterday. She's probably wondering what happened over it all - especially since he just bolted off, just like that.

 _Crap. Some 'best friend' I am, practically cutting off contact like that.._

He couldn't help but feel a bit dazed after the strange dream he had, and the things he heard her (the dream version of her, at least) say to him. A cluster of confusing emotions battled themselves out deep inside himself as he tried to figure out a plan on what to do.

 _Well..I should probably just talk to her. Head on over to her house right now and explain what happened, and why I haven't told her anything. Explain..everything?_

He squirmed as he contemplated whether to inform her about what he had dreamed about. _People dream of weird stuff all the time...probably just my subconscious' way of telling me to talk to her, I guess…_

 _Yeah. Yeah, that's what I'll tell her._

Throwing his legs over the side of his bed, he hesitantly got up, and wandered over to his closet, trying to identify an outfit to wear in the dull light.

He eventually threw on a shirt and adjusted his hat as he carefully went downstairs, being careful so as to avoid tripping in the darkness. Closing the front door gently and then locking it, he shuffled over to his car, feeling a slight sense of urgency egging him on.

Finally sitting himself down and latching the seatbelt to his side, he shifted the car into drive, his mind too preoccupied to even bother turning on the radio.

Though he assured himself that it was nothing to be so restless about, he still couldn't stop thinking about it all. What even was with that dream?

And...why would she say that to him? Why would he say _that_ in response?

 _She doesn't even actually like me that way, though._

 _..does she?_

 _..she never did say who that guy was._

Turning the wheel as he exited an intersection, he shook his head at the thought, scoffing at the very idea.

 _No..no. She wouldn't. Not for a guy like me, anyways._

"Ha...a rockstar falling for a raggedy old rapper? Then I would have heard it all…" He parked the car at the curb, next to her apartment complex. He unsteadily hopped out, feeling a little woozy trying to process it all.

 _Maybe I should just ask her, if I'm worrying about it so much._

But that seems a bit awkward. ' _Hey, you don't happen to like me, do you?_ ' What would she even say to that?

' _Oh, yup, you caught me!_ _The reason why I've been so shy around you still was because of this dumb crush of mine!_ '

Nah…probably what would _really_ happen is something more along the lines of, ' _n-no! Why would y-y-you think that?!_ '

...she could even just lie, just to not have to say it.

"Ugh.." He bumped his head against his car, dragging his hands down his face.

Maybe he shouldn't start off with such a strange topic as that. Just stick with the plan - laugh about what a bizarre dream he thought up, talk through what happened, do the whole 'best friends' thing, since that's what they were. And if the topic comes up...

Everything will work out just fine.

Shoving his keys into his pocket, he walked into the complex, and gazed up at the large amount of stairs he had to navigate.

 _Yeesh. If she has to walk all this every time to go outside, it's no wonder she has such a nice-_

 _Wait, what am I even thinking?_ He shakes his head once more to get rid of the bizarre thought, and began trekking up each step. _That dream must still be on my mind, or something.._

After an exhausting haul up the stairs, he finally arrives at her door (a little out of breath), and raises a shaking fist.

He hesitates for a split second before knocking on the door. _**Knock knock knock.**_

Craning his head to listen, he hears what sounds like a different voice grumbling inside.

 _Uh oh...is she..?_

He feels alarm rise up in him. _No, she wouldn't..she isn't like that._ Raising his fist once more, he knocks upon it rapidly.

 _ **Knockknockknockknockknock**_ -

Suddenly, a gruff voice shouts out from behind it, "ALRIGHT, JUST HOLD ON!"

 _Yipe!_ PaRappa jumps back a bit at the unexpected response. That voice made a shiver go through him; he anxiously moved back a step as he cowered down slightly at the approaching footsteps.

Before he had the chance to regroup his thoughts, he heard the doorknob turn slowly, and anxiously awaited for the door to open.

An unkempt Lammy answered the door. Upon seeing him, her face noticeably went from one of curiosity to confusion.

"W...what are _you_ doing here?"

He eyed the bottle in her hand, seeing it was halfway empty. She leant against the doorway as she continued glaring down at him.

"Wha..Lammy? Are you _drunk_?" He eyed her cautiously as she twitched one of her ears impatiently.

"Huh...just..look at what the….big, f-fat old c..cat drug in…." She angrily rubbed at her eye, and asked him in a slurred voice, "What do you want?"

"Lammy, this isn't really like you to be like this…" Feeling a pang of anxiety hit him at an unwanted thought, he tried to look into the room behind her. "Is, uh...someone in there with you..?"

She took a quick drink of the bottle. "...no." Turning slightly, she tossed the bottle into the room, obviously not caring about the consequences of doing do. Amazingly, it didn't shatter, and simply landed on the floor with a resounding _**THUD.**_

Suddenly, a raspy voice growled out, "What the Hell?! I just cleaned up this mess, you damned goat!"

 _Oh...Rammy…._ he felt himself shiver slightly as he finally registered her voice. Something about her made him always feel a little...off. _At least, if she's there, no one else would be._ He knows that her monochromed opposite has taken a very protective stance of her in the past recent years; for better, or for worse.

Trying to ignore the growing feeling of dread in his gut, he tried to ask her, "I..why are you drinking? This seriously isn't like you..should i be worried?"

She huffed at him. "Oh, s-so suddenly you c..care 'bout me all of a shudden?" The lamb stumbled on the spot before continuing with, "and anyways, i-it isn't like me to c..cry my eyes out until I f-f-fall asleep either, but t-there's not much I c..can do 'bout any of that."

"..what?" _Crying? 'Care about me?'_ "Lammy, I-I just really need to talk to you about something. I...uh.."

 _Crap. What was I gonna say?_

All that rushing to get over here, and he couldn't even remember what it was about. Something about a dream he had, and it was about her...and..something else. But...what?

She scowled at him. "...what do you need to t..talk about with me? C..can't you talk with Sunny about it instead?"

He frowned as she mentioned her name, the pain still settling in his stomach at the thought of her. "She left already. I thought you knew that.."

 _No thanks to me that she doesn't know though, I guess._

Her eyes softened for a split moment, and she relaxed her posture. "S-s-she...left anyways?" But an instant later, she stood rigid again. "Whatever. I d..don't feel like t..talking to you right now."

"Lammy, wait!" He tugged on his ear as he whined pitifully. "A-are you mad at me about something?" He didn't even care about what the dream was about anymore. Why was she trying to avoid him?

 _Is she that angry at me for not keeping her updated?_

Suddenly, the door opened fully, and Rammy was standing at Lammy's side. She had a noticeably peeved expression that only seemed to deepen upon seeing him.

His blood ran cold as the ram glared at him with those unsettling eyes of hers. "Oh..it's you...thought i heard your ugly voice." She held onto Lammy's shoulder as she began to wobble again. "Whaddya want, _dog_?"

He tried to stammer past his drying mouth. "I-I..uh...I need to talk to Lammy."

"'Bout what?"

"Ehm...i-it's personal.."

She glared at him with a growing anger. "Anything you can say to her, you can say to me too. Now spit it out."

He fidgeted uncomfortably in the spot. "U-u-uh…" Giving off a quiet whimper, he gazed up at the drunken lamb. " _Lammy?_ C-can you help me out here, _please?_ "

She swayed on the spot before mumbling, "I d-don't really even w..wanna look at you right now, though."

"I...what?" He looked at her questioningly. "W-what do you-"

"I...I'm just gonna head to bed. It's late." She held onto the doorway as she attempted to turn around, only for the dog to reach out and grab her wrist.

"Lammy, wait! D-don't...please, just-"

"HEY." Rammy grabbed the back of his shirt, lifting him up a few inches off the floor. He shivered as her dark eyes bored into his, their dull gaze making him wince from fear. "You heard her. Get lost."

"B-but I need to talk to her…"

She angrily scowled at him, her sharpened teeth glinting slightly. "Do i have to tell ya twice?"

''R-Rammy, no…" The lamb placed a hand on her counterpart's shoulder, half as a sedative and as a support. "N-none of that, please. Just..set him down."

The ram looked over at her questioningly, then back at him, a deep look of anger making him recoil. She slowly set him back down onto the floor, taking a step back to support Lammy as she nearly fell.

"Lammy, _please_ , j-just-"

"Goodnight PaRappa." She gives him a somber look, her eyes looking slightly glossy, before shutting the door directly in his face.

 _...what happened? I didn't cause this, did I?_ He stood still in front of the door, feeling his spirit sinking lower and lower with each passing moment.

Eventually, he feels a heavy pang of regret hit him as he hears a sniffle from the other side of the door, along with Rammy's telltale raspy voice speaking quietly. He couldn't make out the words..but no doubt that they were all about him.

 _...what did i do to upset her so much?_

"..Lammy?"

 _What about me?_

" _.._ what about our jam session tomorrow, Lammy?"

…

".."


	19. Awkward Silence

It was a dull Tuesday morning, with the sweet chirping of birds going through the air, when he finally decided to do something. PJ sighed as he walked up to PaRappa's house, and stood on the welcoming mat hesitantly before raising up his paw to knock.

 _I hope everything's okay with him...I knew he was upset about Sunny leaving, but this is a bit much._

 _ **Knock knock knock**_ _._ He knocked upon the wooden door, nervously calling out to his friend. _It's been days since I've heard from him.._

Being his best friend and all, he was never one to suddenly cut off contact with him. If he ever would, he'd at least alert him beforehand.

 _ **Click**_. A moment later, the door opened slightly. The area inside looked incredibly dim lit, and a familiar voice croaked out a low, "What is it, PJ?"

"Oh, nothing...just wondering if you were _still_ _even_ _alive_." He set a hand on the door, hoping for it to open. "Seriously, you didn't even show up to the jam session yesterday."

 _ **SLAM!**_ At that, the door abruptly shut in his face. PJ stepped back and shook his head in bewilderment. _Guess i shouldn't have said that.._

"PaRappa, wait!" The bear knocked again hurriedly. "I'm sorry! Don't shut me out, man!

Another moment later, the door opened wide. A disheveled dog appeared in the doorway, depressingly gazing up at his massive friend.

"Oh...you look.."

"Like shit? Yeah. I know already." He itched underneath his misaligned hat. His tail sagged from its usual spot, and his shirt was horribly wrinkled.

PJ eyed him warily. "This isn't still about Sunny, is it?" _Maybe I could help, in that case.._

"No…." He groaned and leant against the frame of the doorway. "Not really, anyways...it's moreso about Lammy." A soft, defeated sigh was let out of him. "She isn't talking to me. And i don't have any idea why. I mean...maybe it has something to do with Sunny? I dunno…."

The bear's eyes widened at this. "...oh. Really? Now that you mention it, she hadn't shown up either.." A couple days ago, all he got was a simple text from her saying, 'won't be able to make it today', and no response afterwards.

PaRappa whimpered pathetically. "Seriously? She didn't show up after all?" He tugged on his ear forcefully as he began to mutter to himself under his breath.

PJ rose an eyebrow at him. Something had definitely happened after he went to the MilkCan practice session. "Look, I'm completely out of the loop - you're gonna have to explain everything to me."

He simply rubbed his aching ear and mumbled a quiet "...'kay." in response to him.

"Good. Go get changed...we're gonna go take a quick walk."

 _Lord knows you definitely need it._

His ears excitedly perked up at this, with his tail starting to wag. "Ooh, okay! I'll, uh, be right back."

A few moments later and they went on their way down the sidewalk, PaRappa looking slightly better than earlier.

It was a cool day in PaRappa town, with a few clouds scattered across the sky. The absence of blistering heat made it quite refreshing to take a stroll through.

PJ let out a low, inaudible breath as he listened to the end of PaRappa's skewered retelling of recent events. "And then...she just shut the door in my face. Just like that! I-I still don't really know what I did…I mean...do you really think she's upset at me for not keeping her updated on what happened afterwards?"

The DJ looked down on him, contemplating what to say. _He has got to be the most dense dog in the world._ "Uh...sounds like a rough spot to be in," was all he could manage.

His friend let out a tired whine at his indifferent response. "I _know!_ But that doesn't help!" He shoved his hands into his pockets. "I-I just..wanna fix it, whatever _it_ is. I just want - no, _need_ , my best friend back. Is that too much to ask?"

They walked in silence for a few moments before PaRappa stammered apologetically, "N-no offense to you though, PJ. Just-"

"Yeah, no, I get it." The teddy bear dismissively waved at his concern. "And you've tried to ask her what it's all about?"

"Yeah! She never got back to me though...ugh…" He ran his hands down his face as he grumbled upsettingly.

The bear pondered over whether to simply inform him of what the prime issue of it all was. _Should I..? I think I should.._

 _But that's not really in my court to say….plus, how would that even help him out now?_

 _..why'd he have to go and mess it all up like this?_

After thinking for a few moments, he finally had an idea about what he could possibly do to help. "Well...I was thinking about going down to the music store today. Maybe, if you'd want, you can come along and-"

"YES!" PaRappa shouted out at his friend, immediately brightening up at the news. "S-she might be there! Then i can actually talk to her, for real!"

None of her being drunk or Rammy standing there to intimidate him - maybe she would be a bit more open to talking to him now, especially now that a few days had gone by since then.

PJ smiled at his newfound enthusiasm. "Alright then. Let's go."

Lammy shoves aside the book she had opened recently, not feeling up to attempting to try another crossword puzzle. Her mind was an absolute mess - she felt a flurry of emotions trying to sort themselves out inside of her.

Most prominent was the pain of it all that stubbornly refused to leave her be. It stuck itself in her like a gnarled thorn, making her feel upset and confused, and especially not able to pay much attention to her two fellow friends sitting beside her.

Ma-San watched as Lammy leant her head down onto her hand, humming quietly as she did so. She shifted closer to Katy, whispering out, "(Katy, do you have any idea what's going on with them now?)"

 _Anytime she's been moody lately, it's always because of him…_ what a pain. Good thing she didn't (usually) have to deal with that. She looked over at the cat next to her, smiling admirably.

"(To be honest..? Not exactly.)" Katy eyed the lamb warily before continuing on in a hushed voice. "(She, uh...she doesn't really remember much from the other night…)"

The mouse flicked an ear in confusion. "(Why? She get plastered, or somethin'?)"

"(...)" At the comment, she had averted her eyes shamefully.

"(...Oh. I was joking. Did she really?)"

Katy sighed before responding glumly, "(I mean, at least she's of age to do so, so I can't really say anything about it. But…)"

"(Yeesh. Yeah, I get it...but she didn't say anything noteworthy? I'm just..confused.)"

She shrugged. "(Not really. She's kept it to herself, mostly. But I guess that-)"

"I know you guys are talking about me."

The two girls looked over alarmingly at their friend, who simply stood up slowly. "I'm gonna go on break, Katy...m-maybe. I don't know." She began to walk into the employee's-only room. "I'll, uh, l-let you know…"

They watched her forlornly walk off, her height noticeably shrunken, and looked back at each other worriedly.

 _ **Ring!**_ Katy shot up from her seat, her depressed mood hidden away, and chirped out in a makeshift bubbly voice, "Hello there!~ Would you need any help finding anything today?"

"Yeah, we could really use your help with something.."

Katy jumped from her spot to see the two boys now standing in front of the counter. "Oh! Hey PJ..and PaRappa..eh, how have you two been?"

PJ patted PaRappa on the back. "Been good, I guess..but PaRappa here nee-"

"Katy, is Lammy working today?"

The cat frowned at the interruption. "She's in the back.."

"Do you know how long she's gonna be in there?"

She sighed, running a hand through her ponytailed hair. "I don't know, PaRappa." Feeling a bit apprehensive to disclose anything to him, she explained, "She said she was gonna be a bit."

"Crap." PaRappa paced on the spot anxiously. "I _really_ need to talk to her about something.."

Ma-San chuckled softly. "(Heh, hey Katy. I wonder what he needs to _talk_ about with her?)"

She shook her head at her. "(Not now Ma-San. It isn't a good time.)" Looking down at the dog, she stated to him, "I don't think she's in all too much of a talking mood today, PaRappa…"

He grimaced. "Really? Still?" Pacing back and forth once more, he thoughtlessly said out loud, "I thought she would be in a better mood since that other night…"

"Wait, what?" Katy jolted on the spot and leaned forward to hear him better, a mix of distress and anger growing in her. She hissed out, "What do you mean, 'other night'?"

 _He didn't do anything to make her feel even worse, did he?_

Her mind instantly began to think of the worst - him showing up at her doorstep, with even more Sunny-related news to dump on her already broken heart. And then her needing a drink, but then it quickly spiraling out of control..

 _No. He can't be_ _ **that**_ _oblivious…_

 _Right?_

The dog looked up at her questioningly. "A few days ago, I went over to her house to try and talk to her about something..but, uh, she wasn't in a very happy mood to see me, I guess. I was hoping maybe it'd be just the drinks making her like that though, which is why i came with PJ today." He rubbed his arm slowly. "..why do you ask?"

He gazed at her with sorrowful eyes, with the dismal tone in his voice making her realize that he didn't mean any harm in his visit at all.

She relaxed and stepped back a bit. "...no reason. Just wonderin'." Trying to ignore the rising shame in her at making such a cruel assumption of her friend, she quietly said, "Just trying to make small talk, is all…"

 _How could I? I've known him for how long, and I've started thinking like this.._

"K-K-Katy..?"

Everyone looked over at the doorway beside the counter, noticing the shy lamb now standing there timidly. Her eyes widened as she accidentally made eye contact with the dog gazing up at her voice.

The rapper immediately brightened up at the sight, and began wagging his tail wildly, any remnants of his miserable mood gone. "Lammy!"

"I-I.." She shook her head in response, and hurriedly walked off, leaving the rest of her friends watching after her.

PaRappa started, walking off after her. "Wait, Lammy, wait!"

They watched him run off to the same corner of the store. After a few moments of supposed silence, they looked back at each other, Katy being the first to break it.

"You guys….we seriously have to do something about this."

All this negativity in the air was starting to affect her as well. She might be upset with her longtime friend, but he didn't intend for all this to happen.

He still doesn't even know, after all.

"You don't have to tell me twice.." grumbled Ma-San as she spun slowly in her chair, her tail flicking this way and that. "This is all getting really awkward. I mean...what? Now our little group is even _worse_ than when what's-her-name decided to bolt off to wherever?"

PJ scowled at the mention. "I still don't really know what's going on. I mean, I know Sunny left and all, but what about after that? I'm even more confused now..."

With how defensive Katy had suddenly gotten, it struck him as a little odd. PaRappa probably didn't do the best job of explaining things...it wouldn't be the first time.

Ma-San gazed over at Katy. "Care to elaborate, Katy?"

The cat rolled her eyes. "Lammy needed some time to herself after I got her home. And she was a bit generous with how much she drank, since she couldn't really remember too much from that night. And I'm guessing he paid her a visit during then - I'm sure that didn't go over so well, with the look of things."

She gazed over at them, noticing how Lammy still attempted to ignore the dog walking after her; she slouched down onto the counter as she recalled the events, with her voice becoming slightly lower. "Then she completely stopped talking to him, and a few days later, here we are."

PJ nodded as he listened. "Okay, I get it now...but what do we do?"

" _We?_ Count me out." Ma-San jutted her chair sharply. "I don't want any part in this drama..and can't we just let them resolve this themselves? They aren't kids anymore!"

The bear chuckled. "PaRappa is still a lot like a kid...and I know him well enough. He didn't mean any harm with what he did…" Which was true. Of course, it didn't make him wanna slap him across his obvlious head any less for causing this painful mess, but still. "And knowing him and how emotional he can get over things like this, he's gonna be really brought down by this."

Katy nodded. "Yeah..I know Lammy won't be able to hold up for very long; she can be standoffish all she wants, but I know she's really hurting still. It's the least we can do to help them...and us too, of course." The cat looked down at the mouse. "That's what friends do..right?"

She gazed at her for a few moments, then looked away, pouting embarrassingly. "Alright. Fine. What are we supposed to do, then?"

They sat in silence for a few moments, the only noticeable sounds being the hushed talking at the other side of the store.

 _ **Ring!~**_ Katy bolts up once more. "Hello there! Would you need any help finding anything today?"

The invertebrate that had walked in smiled at her kind welcoming. "Ay, _mijita_ , I'm glad you asked! I am actually here to pick up an order for Mushi."

She smiles widely as Takoyama walks towards the counter, PJ respectfully moving out of his way. "Hairdresser Octopus! It's been a bit since I've seen you...how have you been?"

The octopus grins kindly. "Amazing! Mushi and I have been touring the country, and it was absolutely fabulous...and now, he is preparing to throw one last concert here in PaRappa Town before going on break!"

Katy nods as she places a hefty box on the counter with a quiet huff. "That's awesome! Glad to hear things are going so well for you two!"

He blushes at her compliment. "Ah, thank you..but, where is that little dog friend of yours?" He gazes around for a moment. "And didn't you have a little sheep friend as well?"

PJ winces at his question. "Oh..right. They're uh, over there…" He points at the two who are now visible, a blithering PaRappa attempting to talk to a bummed out looking Lammy, still ignoring him.

"Hmmm…" Takoyama studied them before remarking, "They seem to not be too friendly with each other."

Ma-San sighed. "Well, they aren't really aren't on very good speaking terms right now; usually they're best friends but..drama. I'm sure you know how it is."

He nodded knowingly, crossing his arms as he thought for a moment. "Yes yes, I know it all too well..hmph…" Suddenly, be bolted up as if he had remembered something. "Oh! Aren't you three girls in a band?"

"Oh." Katy sat up at hearing this. "Yeah..MilkCan. Why do you ask?"

Takoyama smiled wide, his tentacles beginning to flare up as his skin began to slowly redden. "I might be able to help you with your little problem!"

"See, we have a spot open in our lineup for the big event..problem is, there is only one spot open - except in this case!" He stood up rigidly as his skin was now a deep scarlet, with his tentacles waving all about. "Your little band, and the little pup, should play together! There is nothing quite like a good performance to fix things together, no?!"

Ma-San smiled at the news. "(You know what? That just might work!)"

Katy nodded at her friend's comment. "I think you're right Ma-San!" She gazed up at the octopus. "That's an amazing idea! We'd all love to be there!"

He grinned widely at the news. "Wonderful! I'll let Mushi know that.." He trailed off as his eyes wandered to the clock above her head, and he flinched noticeably upon reading the time. "¡ _Ay_ _dios_ _mio_!"

He bolted on the spot, hastily grabbing a nearby pen and paper with his long arms. "I'm gonna be late! Here, I'll write down the details, you can figure everything else out!" He hurriedly grabbed the box and ran out the door, shouting out over his shoulder, "Can't wait to see you all there!"

Katy waved at him, then excitedly looked down at the paper. "Awesome! Now we have our way of getting them back together!"

PJ gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hold on. This is great and all...but, a concert? How are we gonna convince them to both go together?"

She paused in her excited dancing, and gave him a confused look. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, PaRappa wouldn't wanna go because of common courtesy, if he knows Lammy is gonna be going too."

"Right.." Ma-San waved a knowing finger. "And Lammy wouldn't want to go just because he's there...so…."

Katy heaved out a low sigh. "Well...you know what? We're just gonna have to not tell them that then."

"Wait, what?"

She smiled widely. "Tomorrow I'll go and pay PaRappa a visit - tell him about the concert, maybe tell him some earnest advice on the whole thing too. The day after that will be the MilkCan practice, and when Lammy will get to hear the news..."

She gazed over at the two, who had finally parted ways, with PaRappa looking visibly distressed; just as much as the lamb walking away from him. Happy that this'll be over with soon, she chirped out cheerfully, "They'll be back on good terms before you even know it!"

 _ **Knock knock knock**_. Katy plays with the paper in her hands anxiously as she hops on the spot. _Hopefully he won't get suspicious or anything…_

 _Oh, what am I talking about? It's PaRappa - of course he won't. I just hope he's up to going._

Knowing how he's been doing recently, that was still a topic she was unsure about.

 _ **Click.**_ Finally, the doors opens wide, and a glum PaRappa stands before her. He looks noticeably worse for wear, and he rubs his eye before remarking, "Oh. Hey Katy…"

"Hi PaRappa!" She bounces on the spot, her tail swishing excitedly. "I have some great news to tell you!"

"Hm?" One of his ears perks up as he gazes up at her questioningly.

"Here!" She holds out the paper to him, smiling widely as she did so. "You were invited by Mushi to another concert! See?"

"Oh...really?" He slowly read over it, but sure enough, his expression lightens up considerably. "I didn't even ask him this time, though. Maybe he must have realized my real talents, I guess..heh…"

"Alright, alright, don't let it get to your head there…" Katy patted him on the back supportively while asking, "So, I take it you're going then?"

He suddenly tensed up. Gazing down on the card, his height seems to have been deflated, like a balloon with a leak. "I...no. I can't."

"What?!" She shook his shoulder gently. "Why not? I thought you loved performing at Mushi's concerts!"

"...I don't think I have it in me this time, Katy." He held out the paper back to her. "Thanks. But i think it'd be better if I don't go."

 _Oh no...now what?_ She bit the side of her cheek as she tried to think on what to do. Looking past him, she peered into the nearby room of the house, and could barely see his phone sitting on the couch, unattended.

Though it was hard to tell, she could recognize that logo on the screen anywhere; after all, she had a hand in making it.

"Hold on PaRappa...I take it you were listening to our music just now?" She rose an eyebrow up at him inquisitively.

"Hmm?" He gazed over his shoulder for a moment, then looked back at her. "Y-yeah..I was listening to that song. Y'know…" He rubbed his arm mournfully. "That..one you and the girls showed me that one practice session?"

She nodded knowingly. "You have some good taste, then!" Smiling smugly at him, she asked, "I take it you really like that one, huh?"

PaRappa gazed down towards the ground, and mumbled softly, "Yeah. Lammy has a really nice singing voice…" He sighed softly as he leant against the doorway. "...she hasn't said anything about me, has she?"

Katy tisked before folding up the paper, and putting it into her pocket. "Well..I was hoping to talk to you about that too, PaRappa. Could i come in?"

"Huh? Oh, sure." He stepped aside respectfully, and she strode in. She noted how there wasn't much activity inside - except for his phone, that had just shut off its screen.

He moped over to the couch and sat upon it once more, shutting his eyes as Katy followed suit.

She sat down next to him. "So...I'm guessing Lammy still isn't talking to you?

He stirred slightly at hearing her mention her name. "...no."

They sat in silence for a few moments. Eventually, PaRappa sat himself up, and leant himself down onto his elbows. He stared off into space as he mumbled, "I still don't really even know what i did, Katy. You have no idea how much I want to fix it.." He sank down even lower and covered his face with his hands.

Katy could hear the slightest choke come out of him. She patted him on the back, and said reassuringly, "Everything will be okay PaRappa…" Hesitating for a moment, she slowly stated, "and I don't think you have any idea how much she misses you, too."

"Wh...huh?" He lifted his head up to look at her, and rubbed the stray tears off of his cheek. "I thought she hated me...why would she _miss_ me?"

Considering the way she had reacted that one night, and how she flat out attempted to ignore him yesterday...why would she _miss him_?

Now he was even more confused in it all than before.

"Uhh…" She withdrew her hand, and began fumbling with them together. "..that's not really my place to say, PaRappa."

"Katy. Please. I'm begging you-" He turned towards her, whining loudly, too focused on trying to figure out the answer to take her response into question. "You obviously know something I don't...I mean, I get it. I ain't the smartest dog around; spell it out in crayon for me, I don't care, just _please_ _tell_ _me_! _"_

"PaRappa, calm down!" She set a hand on his shoulder, making him stop. "Look. You're going to have to ask her yourself."

"But I-"

" _No buts._ Ask. Her. Yourself." Katy withdrew her hand once more, and took out the slip of paper. "She's really hurting, and she'd love nothing more than to be able to talk with you again. But you two need to _fix this._ " She crossed her arms and glared at him. "I can't do _everything_ for you, you know."

"A..alright. What do you think I should do, then?" He picked up his phone and waved it at her. "I'm sure you know she isn't talking to me at all…"

She paused for a moment, twitching an ear as she contemplated on the upcoming events in the next week.

 _Well..if he's gonna be going to the concert too, maybe he shouldn't try anything for now._

That's the last thing that needed to happen; a blundered attempt on his end to make everything better, but for the exact opposite to happen. And considering how tense things were right now..

"I'll talk to her about it. In the meantime, work on a new song." She set the paper in his hands. "Lammy still needs a bit of time to cool off, but I'm sure that eventually, you two will get around to it."

Of course, maybe that day would be coming along much sooner than either of them think.

He smiled tiredly. His tail began to wag softly. "Thanks Katy…"

She grinned brightly, and shrugged. "Hey, what are friends for?" Getting up from the couch, she walked towards the door. "Glad I could help you though!"

He looked down at the paper in his hands, and back towards his phone. Forcing himself off the couch as well, he stammered, "W-wait, Katy! Could i ask you something?"

"Hm?" She stopped herself from opening the door, and looked over at him.

"Well...I haven't been able to do much with my own music...so would you mind if i went with doing a cover on one of your songs instead?"

She smiled widely at him. "You want to do a cover of one of our songs?" She glanced at the phone in his hands before knowingly remarking, "Lemme guess..you want to do Lammy's song?"

He blushed slightly, and shoved his phone into his pocket. "U-uh..yeah. Would that be alright with you, though?"

Katy clapped her hands together. "Of course it would! What, you think I'm gonna send you to court over something as simple as this?"

He shrugged. "Gee, I don't know. Some people are really possessive of their songs..better to be safe than sorry, I guess."

She shook her head at him. "And here's _my_ question to you - you need any help with it?"

"H..help?" He rubbed his neck thoughtfully. "Honestly? That would be awesome...I'm not really sure it'd be good if I worked on it by myself."

Katy was always an amazing songwriter. To have the lyrical genius behind MilkCan herself (or one of them, anyways) help him with his song would be the best thing right now.

Or at least, _one_ of the best things right now.

The cat grinned at him. "Don't be so hard on yourself PaRappa. I get in slumps like this too…" She strode past him towards the couch, and reclined back on it. "Show me what you have so far, then we can get started!"

PaRappa wagged his head as he folded up the paper in his hands protectively. "Alrighty then! I'll be right back."

He headed off towards the garage, feeling slightly better than he had felt before. Something about the idea of trying to cover Lammy's song gave him a strange sense of comfort...like everything was going to be just fine, eventually.

Such a day couldn't come soon enough, in his opinion.

Lammy plucks at one of the strings on her guitar in a detached manner, not paying much mind to anything at the moment.

It was the day of another practice session for MilkCan, and usually, she'd be incredibly excited; but she just doesn't have it in her today.

The empty warehouse would usually be filled with the sounds of her playing off quick riffs, their astonishing complexity making her smirk in satisfaction. But here she was - feeling upset at herself for feeling this way instead.

She frowned as she softly turned the knob at the head of the guitar, feeling agitated over not being able to focus on the sound. Her mind was still abuzz with the fact that _someone_ had paid her a visit at her work a couple days ago.

Someone she was really hoping to have some time away from for just a bit longer...

 _And just when I thought I was actually getting over it all: nope. Turns out I was completely wrong._

 _..again._

….she shouldn't lie to herself like this. Everything still hurt just as much as that one day, with now the added bonus of feeling abandoned by the person she adored most, for someone else.

And though she could barely recall, that certain someone obviously didn't see what she herself did in the dumb dog, whatever that would be, and hurt him as well.

Lammy scowled as she tugged on the guitar strap; the sensation of it had become a lot more apparent all of a sudden in her discomfort with the stupid, reminding thought.

She fumbled with the strap for a few moments before simply giving up, and leaving it as is. Going back to plucking at one of the strings on her guitar, she let out a soft sigh as she reminisced over the past week, before all of.. _this_ had happened.

 _It was so amazing to actually do something with him for once...outside of the jam sessions._

Never would she have thought that things could go in her favor - to be able to have a closer friendship with him, to the point of him even calling her his _best friend_.

Smirking slightly, she blushed as she remembered how he had hugged her out of the blue at the last MilkCan session; a simple gesture that he probably didn't even think too much about that meant so much to her.

... _too bad that's in the past now._

Shutting her eyes tightly, she attempted to push away the thoughts for the umpteenth time, instead trying to concentrate on playing her guitar.

She was so absorbed by her attempts to push through her befuddled thoughts that she didn't notice when Katy strolled up next to her. Her entire face practically beamed with excitement as she danced on the spot.

"So, Lammy! I have some good news you'd might like to hear!"

"Hmm?" The lamb gazes over at her with a distant look, still absentmindedly plucking her guitar's strings.

Katy whipped her tail around excitedly before blurting out, "We got invited to a concert!" She then held out a slip of paper with scribbled information on it to her, taking comfort with the fact that it was fashioned nearly exactly like Takoyama's.

"...oh." She took it from her grasp, reading over it slowly. "...t-that's cool."

The cat's ears went down slightly at her friend's apparent lack of enthusiasm. "..aren't you happy about that?"

"W-well, yeah - of course I am!" She forced a smile for her, giving a hefty strum to her guitar out of anxiousness. "I...I'm just tired, is all. S-sorry.."

Katy gave a benevolent smile to her friend. "I know it's hard, Lammy. You just gotta power through it, is all. And I honestly think this'll be the perfect thing to distract yourself with, in the meantime."

She willed herself not to smirk devilishly at the statement. _Especially since there won't be anything to be upset anymore after all this._

Oh, she could see it now...everything being all dandy and sweet once more; no more of the depressed pup or upset lamb.

And who knows? Maybe _something_ happening in her best friend's favor as a result, too. Whatever would happen, she was just waiting for when this could all be something they look back and laugh on.

Lammy smiled at her kind words, folding the paper up and handing it back to her. "T-thank you, Katy…"

A sudden click from a pair of drumsticks was heard to their side as Ma-San had finished setting up her drum set. "Yeah, what Katy said. After all, I'm sure there'll be some cute people there in the crowd to help take your mind off of it all too, y'know."

Sitting down in her now well adjusted seat, she flashed her a mischievous smile. "If you need to kick us out of the backstage room for _whatever reason_ , maybe make _someone's_ lucky night, I wouldn't mind at all. I'm sure Katy wouldn't either!"

Lammy's faced heated up at hearing her words. " _M-Ma-San! I-I-I-_ "

"As if!" Katy threw an arm around her shoulders protectively. "The only guy she would wanna do any of that with won't even be there!" She looked over at Lammy, and rose an eyebrow. "But, y'know, if he _did_ come, for whatever reason, I'm not saying he will...I wouldn't mind leaving you two lovebirds alone for a bit!"

Lammy covered her face with her hands, her guitar hanging limp by it's strap still slung around her. " _K-K-K-Katy! N-not you t-too!_ "

Both she and the mouse began laughing as Katy finally let go of her flustered friend. "I'm just kidding, Lammy!" _Mostly, anyways._ "I think Ma-San's sense of humor is rubbing off on me…"

Ma-San shrugged playfully and played off a quick beat on the drumset.

Hearing the soft beat from the drums, she suddenly remembered an idea she had been contemplating. "Oh, Lammy! I wanted to ask you something."

"Now what?" She peeked out from behind her hands, a skeptical glare evident on her hidden face.

"So...I've been thinking. And just hear me out on this. We've been practicing it for a long while, and I think it's about time that we do your song at the concert."

"R..really?" Her stature brightened up considerably at heating the news.

"But also…" She gazed over at Ma-San affirmatively, and then back to Lammy after she gave a quick nod. "We were wondering if you'd like to have the honors of being the main guitarist this time."

"W...w-what?!" Lammy cowered down slightly. "M-me?! Sing in front of all those people?! I-i-i-i c-can't do t-that!"

Playing in front of everyone? No big deal at all. She's done it plenty of times, and it was always amazing to do so.

But..sing? _Sing?_ She's never sung in front of anyone before!

Well, not counting Katy, Ma-San, and...him.

She can't do this. She can't! What if everyone doesn't like her compared to Katy, and they all end up booing her off the stage?!

What then? What'll happen to MilkCan, and Katy and Ma-San, and her dream of finally being able to make it out in the world?

"Whoa! Lammy! _Breathe!_ " The cat patted her on the back as she stepped back to catch her in case she would fall. "It's just a question; you don't have to if you don't want to!"

Ma-San shook her head disagreeably. "I think you should, Lammy! Forget about all you're being scared of - just do it. Do it because _you can!_ "

Lammy asked a hoarse, " _W-what do y-y-you m-mean?!_ "

"I've heard you sing. And Katy has too. But your singing is _good._ Not just good - _amazing_. I mean, that's coming out of me, too: you know how blunt i can be. Katy there-" She points at the cat. "-sugarcoats everything. But i honestly do think that people will love you being up there!"

Amid her frantic thoughts scattering everywhere, a certain one stood out to her more amongst the rest.

 _Do it because you can._

 _Because..I can._

... _yeah. I can do it._ She didn't like thinking of herself so boastfully, but..her playing was good. Heck, in the right time and place, she really knew how to work her guitar!

People may say otherwise, and be a bit too flattering with their words, but that's how she saw it.

And her singing? Although not up to her standards..it was good too. And that was the extent of it.

Besides a _certain few_ , no one else has been able to hear for themselves. So she still doesn't know what they think.

But..if they all think so highly of her guitar playing skills, then how would they feel about this?

 _Maybe she's right._

Plus, a compliment from Ma-San. That _never_ happens. So she must be doing something right.

"O...okay. I-I-l'll do it."

"YAY!" Katy danced wildly on the spot, and eagerly bolted over to her guitar case on the floor. "Let's get started then! Practice makes perfect!"

She smiled as she watched Lammy nod at her, taking a firm hold of the pick in her hands. "Alright..let's get to it then. L-leave it to...Lammy?" She sheepishly gave a hefty strum to the guitar, trying to ignore the uneasy fear growing within her.

 _Relax...everything will be fine._

 _We're MilkCan. What's the worst that could go wrong?_


	20. Digging through the Closet

PaRappa growls as he throws another shirt off to his side. "No, not that one either…" Shoving aside a pointless stack of boxes, he adjusts the hat slipping off of his head as he attempts to reach towards the back of his closet.

 _Why do I even have so many clothes? I barely wear most of them!_

Eventually, he heaved a low sigh and trudged over to his bed and sat down on it. He grabbed the wrinkled slip of paper that was near him and examined it thoroughly, scowling at the dumb words written on it.

' _Dress appropriately'. Saying that as if there's something wrong with what I wear._

Feeling agitated, he jumped off the bed and headed straight to the closet again, throwing all sorts of clothes out after giving a displeased look to them. He nonchalantly chucked each one behind him, not paying much mind to the massive mess starting to accumulate on the floor.

A buried boombox sputtered as he was rustled from his slumber, distressingly shoving aside the clothes that had fallen atop his head. " _Hey!_ Watch it!" He clicked annoyingly and angrily glared at the dog still rummaging through his closet.

It was then that he noticed the chaotic state of the room; besides the clothes strewn about carelessly, there was an alarming amount of crumpled up papers as well. On the floor, the nightstand, and even on the bed; papers were balled up, and sitting there uselessly.

"PaRappa?"

" _Gah!_ " The dog jolted on the spot, and quickly turned around, a shivering hand grasping at his chest. "Oh, Boxxy Boy! Geez, you scared me…"

"Oops. Sorry." The robot waved around himself. "I just wanted to ask you what was with this huge mess? Usually you tend to keep the room clean."

Sure, he would leave the place slightly untidy sometimes, but it would never get to this state.

"Uh…." He kicked a ball of paper near his foot. "...was trying to write a song."

Boxxy Boy picked up a crumpled ball and opened it. Scribbly, smudged handwriting was written all across it. "Well, I guess that would explain _half_ of the papers." By the words jotted down on it, it was definitely not a song up to his usual standards..in terms of both quality and tone.

What was going on with him? Did he miss out on something while he was sleeping again?

He watched as PaRappa turned back around and slowly began reaching for clothes once more - only now instead of tossing them haphazardly, he threw them onto the bed into a messy stack, each hanger on every shirt making a distinct _**click**_ sound.

Boxxy Boy watched him do so for a few moments before asking slowly, "What about all these clothes, then?"

PaRappa didn't look over at him, and while still organizing the garments, he muttered out, "Tryin' to find something to wear."

"Really? For what?" What sort of thing could make him act this way? Unless… "Do you have a date, or something?"

PaRappa stuttered for a slight second, but continued going through his closet. "No...it's for a concert. Mushi invited me to one, and I gotta find something that 'fits the part'." He stopped for a moment, rubbing his sore arm that ached from the repetitive movements.

Boxxy Boy watched him for a few seconds before replying, "Ah, I see now.." Of course he would be this attentive to details with Mushi - ever since the flea first helped him by letting him perform at his concert by his side, he always tried to go above and beyond with any requests he had of him.

After a few more shirts were discarded onto the bed, he nonchalantly let out a garbled whistle, and asked, "So...did everything work out okay with Flower Girl?"

PaRappa froze. After a few moments of silence, the robot watched him shake his head, while he muttered out a quiet, "No." He slowly began throwing aside more shirts, albeit with less energy than before.

Boxxy Boy paid no attention to his changed demeanor, and innocently chirped, "Oh! I take it the advice from the Lamb-ee girl didn't work?"

 _That's a shame. I thought for sure that that idea would have worked out…_

 _Oh well._

To his surprise, however, PaRappa had stopped completely at the comment. After a few moments, the dog slowly slunk down onto the floor, his hands holding a shirt that he was wrinkling up distressingly.

Boxxy Boy winced as he noticed a subtle change to the tone in the room just then- a heavy, dull air wafted through as PaRappa sat himself down onto the floor with a quiet _**thud**_.

He watched as his master then slumped over. "PaRappa?" He was caught completely off guard when the dog let out a low groan, covering his face with the cloth in his hands.

"Whoa, wait!" The robot ran over to his side. "Why are you getting so upset all of a sudden? All i did was ask you if Lamb-ee ga-"

"I don't know how she is! Stop asking me." His voice sounded pained as he barked out the words. He swiveled around on the spot, turning away from the robot as he kept covering his face.

"Gee, I was just curious…"

"..." The rapper looked back over at him confusingly. Letting out a low sigh, he slowly turned back towards the little robot. "...she's upset at me for something I did. And it probably has something to do with Sunny. I dunno. I still can't figure it out, she quit talking to me, no one else will tell me, and it's all just really frustrating.." He picked himself off the floor, and headed over to his bed.

Boxxy Boy watched him lay down on it, not caring he was also resting on a pile of shirts and hangers. He snatched the paper next to him, giving a glum look at it as he held it above his head.

The boombox didn't get why he always got so emotional over everything...especially lately. First, it was about the Pretty Flower Girl, and now this Lamb-ee girl is giving him trouble...why even bother at this point?

"Why does it matter so much, PaRappa?"

The dog sat upright with an irritated grunt, and glared at him angrily, looking somewhat offended. "What do you mean, _why does it matter?_ She's my friend!"

"If she doesn't talk to you, then maybe you should leave her alone." Why try to talk to someone who was ignoring you? It just didn't make sense.

"...but I _wanna_ talk to her. I wanna fix all this." He glanced off to his side. "I miss her, and the fact that i've done something to make her act like this is _killing me_."

 _I just don't know what.._

Boxxy Boy rose an eyebrow. "Huh. You're acting as if you hurt the Flower Girl's feelings, not just a random friend of a friend.."

PaRappa growled at the comment. "She's not just a friend of a friend; she's my _best_ _friend_."

Why was his dumb little boombox acting so insensitively? Any other time in the past, he knew he would have just shouted his own optimistic words back at him in an effort to get him out of this slump.

In fact...maybe he should just try messaging her again. Just one more time…

He reached out towards his phone, but hesitated. _I shouldn't though. Katy said to wait, didn't she?_

 _And she said she was gonna talk to her about this. And that I should just butt out for a short while._

 _..but how long is that gonna take?_

Needing to distract himself, he jumped off the bed towards the closet one last time, and reached towards the very back of it.

He looked down at the garment in his hand - it was an old shirt, with the MilkCan logo stamped on it. Black, never worn….probably because of the peculiar design of the sleeves. Possibly another reason why this style of the shirt was discontinued.

 _Better than nothing, I guess…_ he scowled at the ugly sleeves of the shirt. Giving a quick glance around himself for anything to cut them off with, he shook his head and simply tore them off.

He laid the shirt that now resembled more of a messy tanktop onto the bed, and set down a pair of pants to go along with it. "Eh. It'll have to do, I guess."

The robot had nervously watched him from afar. "Sorry PaRappa..I didn't meant to make you mad. I was just stating the facts…"

The rapper gazed over at him. Boxxy Boy was less like the passionate music-maker he used to be, and more like an average robot, now that he thought about it. "..you sure we shouldn't fix you, with you acting like this?"

"W-what?! No, I'm perfectly fine!" It ran off to a corner of the room, and hid under a shirt.

"You sure?" He walked over to the concealed contraption and picked up the garment, revealing a shivering boombox. "If we fix you, I can finally take you out and about like I used to."

"No! I'm good!" He then ran off to an opposite corner, huddling against it like a lifeline.

PaRappa sighed, deciding to comply with his request. For now. "Fine. Any worse though, and I'm gettin' you fixed." He grumbled at the stupid shirt on his bed, grabbing a pencil from his nearby headstand. "I'm gonna go try and work on the song some more..gotta get that finished."

"A-alright, PaRappa!" Boxxy Boy relaxed his defensive posture, and slowly wobbled out of the corner. "I'll just stay here. You go do that." He watched him trudge out the door and shut it loudly, letting out a breath of relief as he barely escaped disassembly once more.

The rapper stomped down the stairs, paying no mind to his sister chatting away to the phone held up to her ear in her room. Finally arriving at his destination, be opened up the garage door, and flinched when he heard someone call him name.

"PaRappa!" Papa Rappa stepped out of his study, eyeing him worriedly. "Are you doing alright?"

He watched his son shuffle on the spot anxiously. "Yeah...I'm fine. Just still going through a bit of stuff, is all."

Something about the way he stared towards the ground and held himself up made him uneasy. He could feel in his gut that something was off, but what it was, he couldn't tell. He always left that up to…

Well. He never was very good at these sorts of things. It was worth trying, though.

"...alright. You're sure that you're okay?"

PaRappa weakly smiled up at him. "..yeah. Thanks dad. I was just gonna head into the garage to work on a song."

Papa Rappa smiled at the reassurance. "Alright, PaRappa." He nodded at him and walked back into his office, sitting down with a slight huff as he picked up the unfinished invention he was still tinkering with.

 _I do hope he's doing alright…_

There was something else off with the way that PaRappa was acting just now, however, and it was still biting at him from the back of his mind. Something that reminded him of himself many, many years ago...and gave it a slight sense of comfort in these difficult times for his son.

That way he caught him gazing off into space now and then, his headphones in and with that certain twinkle in his eye…it was strange how someone could look so crestfallen and entranced at the same time.

And of course, it was all too familiar to him as well. As if he himself went through it just yesterday.

He smiled, clicking a few of the wires of the object in his hands into place. _I think that pup might be in love._


	21. Reconciliation

PJ picks up the fork on his plate as he sets his phone down, after checking to make sure the message had completely sent.

\- Sorry Lammy, PaRappa and I wont be able to make it tomorrow. Busy with work and stuff -

Or at the very least, PaRappa was.

The dog in question finally lets out a sigh as he sits down opposite of PJ, who shoveled another bite of the cake in front of him into his mouth.

After a few moments of quiet, PJ cleared his throat and muttered, "Y'know PaRappa...i really expected this place to be more active on Saturdays," It was a lovely little cafe - shame that it was always nearly dead on the weekends.

"Eh. The students are usually at other places right about now." PaRappa tugs at the collar of his sweater as he sets his head down onto his hand, his eyes gazing into nothing.

"I, uh, never really took you to be one to work such long hours.."

"..I don't. But i don't really have anything better to do…" He tapped his fingers on the table as he muttered, "Better spending it here gettin' paid, than just moping around at home."

PJ froze. "You're still working on the song though, right?"

"Yeah, of course I am! But...I can only work on something for so long before i get burnt out…"

A small bout of silence sat in between them, save for the distant clunking of plates and hushed whisperings in the background, before PaRappa spoke up with a disheartened, "It's just...I ain't as good of a rapper as I used to be, PJ."

"What? Don't say that man. You're just in a slump, is all." PJ politely set his plate and utensil aside, remarking, "It happens to everyone."

As if disregarding the statement, his friend's eyes traveled down to the phone sitting at the opposite end of the table, eyeing it sorrowfully before asking, "...you sent the text to her?"

"Huh? Oh. Yeah." He grabbed it, swiping the screen. "She didn't respond yet."

"...maybe it's for the best, I guess…' He slumped down onto the table, his hat draping off of his head slightly. "Any bit of talent left in me should be saved for this dumb song."

PJ gazed down on his friend sadly. "You're really trying hard on it, aren't you?"

This was completely unlike him. He knew firsthand that he liked to go on the spur of the moment - usually that would consist of repeating what other people said, sure - but give him his time to shine, and he could blow everyone away.

But this? Struggling to write even just one meager set of lyrics?

"I just don't have a choice anymore." PaRappa whined softly as he tapped his fingers on the table once more. "I used to be able to rhyme stuff off the top of my head..to just be able to make a beat out of anything: a car engine, a hissing grill, I mean _anything_. But it's gone now. Or mostly, at least…"

PJ glanced down at the table, feeling his appetite vanish. Hearing PaRappa talk so pessimistically about himself, or his ability to rap, was so awkward. There was something fundamentally _wrong_ about the very topic of it.

Suddenly, PaRappa stopped tapping his fingers. He slowly sat up in his seat, remarking, "Y'know, it's weird. Boxxy Boy said something the other night, and it really made me think…"

"Hmm? Ain't that the boombox you've had since we were little?" _Since we first met, practically. Geez. If we're getting old, how's that little robot still alive?_ "He ain't dead yet?"

"No, of course not! He's still working.." His mind wandered for a split second to the memory of the gadget having to hit the side of himself like an old TV in order to talk. "Well, more or less."

"Anyways, he said something like I'm 'caring too much' about her...is that even a thing?" He told himself several times that it was nothing to be so worked up over. But now, he couldn't help but question it again.

..was he? Was he overreacting for something that was out of his control? Or is he acting how he should be?

This entire ordeal was messing with his head…

"'Caring too much'? No, that isn't bad at all - I mean, you've said yourself, she's your best friend. If I stopped talking to you all of a sudden, I think you'd be pretty upset over that too."

The dog bolted upright in his chair as he exclaimed, "Yeah, see, that's what I thought!" He slunk down in his chair afterwards. "But still...I can't help but keep thinking about it…" _Can't help but keep thinking about her, either._

 _Why_ _ **am**_ _I so obsessed with her, and can't just let go of it like Katy said? Am I really making a big deal out of it, or is it something else?_

 _...like what though? What could it even be?_

He tried to think about what it was about her that made him so determined to try and figure out what the root of all the sudden hostility was from - instead, his mind wandered to her magnificent playing at the practice session, and how she sang in a voice so sweet it made him practically swoon.

And of course, after that, it went straight to what she was wearing at the time, as well. That stupid mahogany sports bra... or black, whatever it even was.

He tugged his hat down as a noticeable blush came across his face.

" _...I think that would be a good thing, if I'll be honest. Y'know, in case it doesn't work out with Flower Girl..._ " The little boomboxes' words from a week ago echoed harshly through his mind. Words he simply dismissed as being completely implausible, at the time.

What a joke. He was so sure of things going his way, with such blind optimism, that he hadn't expected for things to play out the way they had. Goes to show to never count your eggs before they hatch.

 _And now look where we're all at. Lammy ain't talkin' to me, our little group is in shambles...she still isn't talking to me._

He scoffed at himself as he tried to think of Lammy accepting any advances from him, in the context of the robot's words. _Fat chance that'll happen now, though._

Katy eyes Lammy as she sighs depressingly once more, clicking the pen in her hand before setting it down. She stared at the closed book in front of her, a distant gaze the only noticeable thing about her.

She never did think that trying to get Lammy and PaRappa to be better friends would end up having this effect; now she was even worse than before! All she wanted was to help her best friend be happy..and she couldn't even manage to do that.

 _..maybe she isn't upset over that, though. Maybe..it's some other reason instead. Like, what if she's upset that she has to buy a new set of strings after trying to tune her guitar? Or something like that.._

It was incredibly unlikely in this scenario, but it wouldn't hurt to check, right?

"Hey Lammy...you doing okay there?"

She only moved her head slightly at her words, and uttered out a disinterested, "...yeah. I'm fine."

Katy twitched an unconvinced ear. "You need to talk about it at all?"

"...no." Lammy turned her head away from her, refusing to make eye contact now.

She sighed glumly. "I'm just worried about you is all, Lammy." Grabbing the dumb book away from her, she started flipping through the papers, needing something to occupy herself with.

The lamb next to her watched her do so for a few moments, before she sat up slowly. She fumbled with the watch on her wrist before mumbling, "I've just been feeling really down lately, is all…nothing more than that."

 _Feeling down? That's a huge understatement. I haven't seen her this depressed since… I can't even remember._ "Do you maybe have an idea why?"

"W-well...uh, I'm sure you know it's about PaRappa already. Or, a-at least I think so…"

 _Ding ding! What a surprise. S_ he listened intently as she quietly continued, her hands being set down in her lap. "I just..really miss him."

 _Uh huh._

"...a lot."

 _Uh huh?_

"...more than a lot."

 _..oh._

"...enough to where it's starting to hurt."

... _oh, okay._

"...a-and I feel like it's kinda eating me alive, too..."

 _...alright. That's a bit graphic._

"Oh...I didn't know you still felt that way, Lammy."

After all the crushing drama that had happened, why would she? If she was in her spot, she'd already be way over it by now.

But of course, they're aren't the same person, obviously.

Lammy simply gave a glum shrug in response, and went back to slouching on the counter.

Sure, the hurt was still there..but that pain wasn't anything compared to what she was feeling now. Now, after the constant reminder of how poorly she had been treating him circled through her head daily. Now, with how dearly she missed his presence and everything about that dumb pup that she ever liked.

She thought about how her heart sank to the lowest depths of herself when he gave her the news of trying to still win Sunny's heart one last time. But considering the current state of things...was she right to even react in such a way?

 _ **Of course you are. He hurt you!**_

 _But he didn't deliberately mean to. At least, I don't think he did.._

 _ **Even after all this time, you still feel the way you did on that very day.**_

 _...maybe I should just stop, then._

 _ **You can't just do that, and you know it.**_

Her thoughts were interrupted when a soft hand patted her on the back. "Y'know Lammy..he really misses you too. But you shouldn't beat yourself up for feeling the way you do. You know what I always say about this.."

Lammy smiled softly. "Yup.. 'the heart wants what the heart wants'..." Her grin grew even wider when she remarked, "I even remember you saying that to me all the way back when we first met each other after the concert."

Katy chuckled. "You're right, I did! You froze right on the spot!" _And I was too tired to even notice. Geez._ She shook her head and looked down at her curiously. "Actually, why did that even happen to you? You're one to always get nervous at meeting new people, but you just completely _froze_ in front of him."

"H..honestly? I d-don't really know."

All she knew was that when she saw him walk in, it was as if the mere sight of him was enough to shut off her thought process, and turn her into even more of a stuttering mess than before (which, apparently, was a thing that could happen to her).

Maybe it was the way he simply gave off an unquestionable aura of confidence, which was something she's always greatly desired for herself.

It could probably be because he seemed like such a kind person; giving time out of his own day to help the band prepare for their first concert, and even moreso when he decided to visit them backstage. He didn't need to do any of that. But he did anyways.

And this fact about him became even more apparent with his patience in the situation back then - just remembering the soft smile he gave her to relieve her fears still made her stomach twist in dumb fascination, even after all these years.

Or...who knows? Maybe it was because of how short he was compared to everyone else - or because he was an adorable, floppy eared dog. She couldn't pick out just one reason.

He was such a kindhearted person. Still is, in fact. And he's been trying to fix the problem he accidentally created. The problem that he still doesn't know what he did to create.

She hears her phone buzz. Taking it out and swiping the screen, she squinted at the message she just got from PJ before letting out a distressed sigh.

And now look at them. Cancelling off their jam sessions that they used to practically prioritize over everything else like it didn't even matter anymore.

 _...why'd it have to get like this?_

 _How'd it get to this point in the first place?_

Sunny is gone. And sure, PaRappa running off like that showed her personally that he still wanted to win her heart over. And that her plans to finally admit her own dumb feelings to him that day were gonna be all for nought.

But...they're still friends. Best friends. And that should have been the top priority of it all. If she swallowed her reluctance, she could have helped him when he especially needed her.

 _Wow...what have I done?_

She feels her throat beginning to ache as she softly mumbles, "Katy? I think I really messed up."

"Huh?" The cat glared at her unbelievably.

"H-he's my best friend, and I haven't been very nice to him at all!"

"Lammy, wait, hold on! You're saying that like you're completely in the wrong here!" Which she absolutely was not. If it wasn't for PaRappa being so blindly oblivious, this all could have been prevented.

Anyone could plainly tell that he was the one in the wrong. _If he just had half a brain, none of this would have had to happen!_

In fact, all the way from the very beginning, even Ma-San noticed it before she did. And she herself was the one who always had an eye for these sorts of things.

Call her biased, but he absolutely deserves everything that happened to him. _Maybe it'll teach him, for once._

The lamb shook her head. "I don't really care about that anymore! I-I just want us to be friends again, at least." She frantically began typing away on her phone.

He probably never even meant to be so harsh in his words, when he came to her for advice. It was just because of this stupid crush of hers that had made her act so badly.

And plus..of all the people to go to, he went to her. _Her._ Not PJ, or Katy..he trusted her. And she didn't even follow through.

Grumbling at the lengthy wall of text she was about to send, she simply pressed the button next to his name and brought her phone next to her ear.

"Wait, Lammy, what are you-"

"... _hello?_ " Though his voice was quiet and ridden with static, it still elicited a bolt of excitement to go through her at hearing it.

"H-hey, PaRappa!" She couldn't stop the gleeful smile growing on her face, to which Katy shook her head disapprovingly at. "I-I-I know it's been a bit, a-a-a-and there's a lot I w-want to say…" _Stop rambling, get straight to the point!_ "B-basically, what I'm asking is...do y-you think we can set up a jam session soon, since you are PJ are busy tomorrow?"

There was a small bout of silence, along with hushed talking on his end, before he responded with, " _Oh, sure! I mean, if you aren't too busy. I don't wanna bother you._ "

She frowned at the apparent apprehension in his voice. _Look at that. He was never so cautious before. And it's all my fault.._ "Yes, _please_ , PaRappa."

" _O-okay...it'll have to be sometime next week though, since I'm working a lot for the next few days._ "

"Oh, alright! How about...uh.." _What day is the concert? About a week away, on Friday, right?_ "Well..w-would next Saturday be good?"

" _Yeah! Sounds great!_ "

She couldn't help but squeal in excitement. "Can't wait to see you there!"

She was about to hit the red button on the screen before he quickly uttered, " _Lammy, hold on.._ "

She slowly brought the phone back up to her ear. "..Yeah?"

"... _we're still best friends, right?_ "

"..of course we are. Best friends."

"..wow Lammy.." Katy tried everything in her power not to smirk knowingly. The day directly after the concert? How would things go?

She didn't expect events to play out like this; her plan was that they would still be silent to each other, up until the concert.

... _shame on me. I never do plan for anything unexpected._

Lammy shrugged, shoving her phone back into her purse, the excited smile still on her face and unwavering. "I-I know, I know..I just wanna talk through some stuff with him. Sort all it out…"

 _This has all been going on for way too long. It's time to just nip it in the bud, and get it over with._

She gulped audibly before quietly adding, "And i'll make sure to explain everything to him…"

Katy rose an eyebrow at her. "Everything..?"

 _No, she doesn't honestly mean what I think she's saying._

 _..right?_

Sure enough, the lamb nodded her head affirmingly, and gazed over at her with a nervous smile. "Y-yup.. _everything_."

It wasn't gonna be easy. Heck, if it was, none of this would have had to happen.

But she wasn't going to do it out of wanting something to happen, this time; it was just the least she could do to explain things on her end.

And considering everything that they've been through lately, it's the least she could do for her best friend.

PJ watched as an awed smile dawned on his friend's face. Soon, his tail began wagging wildly, and he adjusted the hat on his head to its correct position after shoving his phone into his pocket hastily.

He couldn't help but grin as well, the joy radiating from him starting to become contagious. "So...I take it that was some good news?"

"U-uh..I...yeah!" The dog bounced happily on the spot, his hands fumbling with the strings on his apron, jumbling his words in his overflowing excitement. "Lammy just called, and s-she said...she wants to set up a jam session next week, a-a-and she even said…" He suddenly stopped. He began gazing off into space longingly, his eyes starting to well up with tears slightly. "...we're still best friends."

Who would have thought? Just a call from her out of the blue...and now, they have a jam session set up for the day after the concert. And...she wants to talk through some stuff.

She said so. And...he could swear he could _hear_ the distress in her voice. It hurt his heart so badly to hear that painful tone..

Especially since it reminded him of his own. And that's the last thing he would ever want anyone else to feel. Especially his own best friend.

He couldn't help but let out a giddy chuckle. _She said we're best friends still.._

 _She doesn't hate me._

 _She must care still…_

Rubbing his arm sheepishly, he dreamingly gazed over at the clock on the wall. "Oh. Uh, my break's up. I outta get back to work."

PJ held his hands up. "Alright. I'm gonna get going then." He got up from the table, flashing him a quick smile. "I take it you're feeling better, though?"

"Of course I am!" PaRappa eagerly scooped up the plate and silverware into his hands with a happy laugh, and headed off to the kitchen. "Later PJ!"

The bear grinned as he headed off towards the exit of the cafe. _That was Lammy that just called him out of the blue? I can't believe it._

He definitely couldn't believe how she just set up another jam session as well, just like that. How are things even going to work now?

 _Oh well. Maybe Katy could figure that out..she's always good at these sorts of things._

PaRappa hopped along with a noticeable skip in his step, humming out a quiet tune to himself as he went back to work. _The day right after the concert, too…I can't wait!_

 _This week'll just fly by!_


	22. Concert 1

A lamb completely lost in thought nervously shivered as she watched the buildings go by outside her window; a deep knot of unease sat inside her as she willed her breathing to remain even.

This was how it usually tended to be before concerts..the anxiety always amalgamated into a ridiculous amount before she finally got her hands on her guitar. Which was how it usually happened.

But now...another thing was on her mind. It was astoundingly worse than the simple pre-performance jitters she would always get over eventually.

 _Tomorrow is gonna be the big day…_

The day when she finally cleans the air between her and PaRappa. When they finally get over this stupid hurdle of drama that never needed to have become so big in the first place - and to her utter apprehension, the day when she'll finally fess up as to why she acted the way she did.

 _Sunny isn't here anymore...so I don't have to worry about that_. She never wanted her own affections to get in the way of his - it was obvious that he already had his eye on someone. Why try anything when she already knew the answer?

She let out a shaking sigh to blow the hair out of her face. _Well..I was kinda rejected anyways. So it doesn't even matter all too much at this point._

 _All I know is, I just want my best friend back._

…

 _But...now that she's gone...maybe..?_

They never did do anything together once she left. How would things go with her out of the picture?

Would...would she actually have a chance this time? A _real_ chance?

She shook her head at the emotional flurry that had swelled at the very idea. _No, don't think like that! At least, not yet._

 _Settling all this out first is what I need to do. And I'll cross that bridge when I get to it._

She listened to the sound of the engine shut off as Katy pulled the key from the ignition. "We're here!" She looked at her two bandmates next to her, a bright smile evident on her face, as per usual. "You guys ready?"

Ma-San adjusted her jacket, setting the sticks in her hands behind one of her ears. "Ready as I'll ever be."

Lammy nodded, trying to keep her worry from showing. "Mm-hm.."

They each got off of the van, and picked up their respective instruments. She relaxed slightly as she held a firm grip on the handle of the guitar case, the cool touch of it a welcome sensation compared to the burning unease all over her body.

She watched as Katy piled on Ma-San's drumkit onto a nearby dolly, much to her resentment.

"I _told_ you, I don't need a dolly, Katy! I can handle it all myself!"

She simply shook her head at the comment, and hissed out, "I don't want you throwing your back out! Can you imagine, right before the big concert too?"

"...fine. But this is just a one time thing."

Katy grinned, and began pushing the dolly. "Maybe you can bring my guitar in for me instead."

The drummer's face lightens up at this. "Oh..sure. Why not?" She easily picks up the case by its handle and begins to walk next to Katy, with all three of them heading in through the back door together.

They traverse their way through a few darkened corridors, and emerge into a large opening, filled with shoutings and equipment of all sorts. The unmistakable noise of a crowd chanting makes Lammy perk an ear up, both in excitement and panic.

"Hey, over at the wall." Ma-San points towards the azure invertebrate watching all the excitement from his spot.

"Hello there, Hairdresser Octopus!" Hearing the bubbly greeting instantly brings a smile to his unnerved face.

"Ah, hello there girls!" He gives each one a hug, and steps back with an approving look. "You all look wonderful, all dressed up for the day!" His grin grows even wider as he eyes Lammy. "Hm. Trying to impress someone, _mijita_?"

Her faces reddens as she tries to step behind Katy. "N-no! I-i-I mean...no?"

 _Maybe it was a dumb idea to wear this outfit..._ it wasn't as if there was anyone in the crowd she was desperately hoping to see, cheering for her, and maybe even.. _no, stop!_

He chuckles at her stuttering. "I'm only kidding! I know you all wanted to look your best for today." He extends a hand, and drops a key into Katy's outstretched paw. "Here, your key for your room. You're on in half an hour!"

She shoves it into her pocket, cooing out, "Thank you!" and giving one last hug to him, before walking the band into their assigned room.

She stops the dolly next to the door and unlocks it, opening it wide as she grabbed up the individual drum cases.

"...whoa." They all gaze to the massive room inside, remarking at how immaculate it was. A red loveseat sat at one end of the room, opposite a towering mirror and dresser. The walls were lined with empty racks, possibly formerly used as an area to hang outfits on.

The short mouse heads past the two girls aweing over the sight, carefully setting down the bass guitar case in her hands and sitting down on the sofa. "Mushi really knows how to provide, doesn't he?" Adjusting her jacket, she relaxes back into the plush seat, setting her hands behind her head.

Katy chuckles as she watches her, while she and Lammy bring in the rest of the cases. "We'll have to thank him personally after this, in that case."

Lammy smirks as she gazes across the room, which now had empty instruments cases strewn across its floor. _This definitely is a really nice room..._

She couldn't help but reminisce about the grandeur of it compared to the dinky room of their first concert - they practically weren't even in the same league with each other.

 _Thinking about leagues, actually...I wonder what PaRappa is doing right now?_

Maybe he was moping around his home still, counting down the hours until it was finally tomorrow. An image of him from back at the music store popped into her head, making her sigh gloomily.

 _Poor thing..at least we'll be able to finally settle everything tomorrow. I just hope he's alright, until then._

"Bye you guys! I'm gonna get going now!"

"Alright PaRappa, let me know when you get there safely."

"Bye PaRappa! Have fun!"

PaRappa turned the key in the ignition, feeling his heartbeat racing even more when the car roared to life.

He wiped the slight bit of sweat off his brow as he tried to focus on driving, growling anxiously when he realized he forgot to turn the AC on.

 _Today's the day. Or at least, one of the days.._

Nevermind the fact that he was doubting the stupid words he had come up with, or that he was especially doubting in his own ability right now - what was going to happen tomorrow?

He never expected Lammy to just call him, out of the blue. And it even sounded like..she _missed_ him. He could plainly hear it in her voice - that strangled tone that reminded him so much of himself, right now.

 _Katy wasn't lying when she said she missed me. It's still just a lot to think about..._

Meeting up for a practice session was never anything to fret about; it was a fun time when they would just goof off, and play whatever they wanted. In fact, it was something he always looked forward to as a bit of a stress reliever.

But _now_? Something in him felt absolutely terrified. Not even that. He felt... _anxious_. Like something big was about to happen.

As if, at any moment now, someone could jump out from the seat behind him and scare him. But..why?

Why was he so nervous about something as simple as seeing her again? Maybe it had to do with the fact that it might be a bit awkward - cutting off contact, and then suddenly trying to set something up?

Who knows what's gonna happen at it, though. _I don't. Which is probably why i'm so on edge today…_

 _..actually, i wonder what she's doing right about now?_ Maybe she's just lounging around at her apartment, playing off quick riffs on her guitar...with the sound off, of course. He feels himself smiling in warm enthrallment at trying to think of her in her natural habitat - guitar in her hands, and no one around to make her anxious.

 _ **Beep!**_ He shakes his head as he realizes he had stopped at a red light for too long. _Oh, whoops...better pay attention to what I'm doing._ He spots an area to park and slows the car down, making a mental note to try and relax.

 _Don't worry about anything. She said it herself - you two are still best friends. Just play as best you can today, and we can worry about it all later._

As he locks his car, he can't help but will the rising sense of glee inside of him. _She really does wanna work things out, though. She really does miss me!_

Strutting over to the building he had directions to, he sees the man himself standing beside a door.

The flea greets him with open arms. "Hey there, little pup! Glad to see you could make it!" He uses two of his arms to lock PaRappa in a tight hug, then steps away from him concerningly. "Now hold on..somethin' wrong? You look a little distracted."

He just shrugs in response. "Just a bit nervous, I guess.." What a complete understatement. "I-I don't wanna let you down, today…"

His mentor shakes his head at him. "Ah, you won't let me down! You've already made me proud so many times…" Giving his signature smile, he says cheerily, "Just do what you do best. 'What you gotta do'?"

PaRappa jumps up excitedly, his tail waggling wildly. "'I gotta believe!' Thanks Mushi; I'm gonna try my best tonight!"

He grins widely. "Great! You're on in five. Lemme know how you're doin' afterwards, though. I wanna make sure you're doing okay."

"Alright, I will!" He gives him a thumbs up before heading in through the door. Sidestepping a few people carrying instruments, he finally enters in through a large clearing. He watches in amazement as all sorts of people shout out to each other as they handle equipment of all types.

Before he could try and make his way further, one of the stage handlers stops him. "I'm sorry, but you can't go past here. Please wait right there before you head on stage."

"Oh, alright." _That's weird..Mushi knows I always like to go around backstage before I perform._

 _Oh well. Guess I'll wait here, then._

 _ **Knock knock.**_ A head pops in from behind the door, the owner of it smiling sweetly as it remarks, "You're on in 5, girls!"

"Thank you Hairdresser Octopus!" Katy looks back at her bandmates as he shuts the door softly. "You guys ready? We better get moving!"

Ma-San gets down from her seat at the couch, twirling her drumsticks in her hands. "Alright...let's go."

Lammy finishes adjusting the strap on herself, and places a firm hand on the neck of the guitar. "Okay! Let's go then!"

From a bit ways beside the door, Takoyama watches the girls head out towards the stage, each one with their respective instruments in hand. He then looks over at the far end of the clearing where Mushi was talking to PaRappa, and watches him point towards the stage while whispering something into his floppy ear.

After he affirmingly watched the dog head on his way, the flea walks over next to the octopus, and sets one of his arms around his shoulders. "You sure this'll work, babe? I mean, I ain't doubtin' your honor, but I just wanna make sure you know what you're doin'."

He smirks knowingly at him. " _Mi amor_ , I know for a fact that nothing will help those two better than a good performance together. You just wait and see!~"

"Gee...it's a bit dark, isn't it?" Katy nervously sidesteps Lammy as she watches her trip over a cord, feeling concerned for her friends' wellbeing.

"Maybe it's part of the show?" Ma-San shrugs as she cautiously heads over to her drumkit, sitting down carefully in the seat.

Lammy moves into position at the main center of the stage, and notices something moving out of the corner of her eye. Whatever it was seemed to having as much trouble as they were traversing the darkness.

After watching it stumble for a few moments and grab a nearby microphone (after bumping into its stand) she says, "I'm sorry, but MilkCan is supposed to be performing first."

Suddenly, the figure looks at her. For a few seconds, she simply stares back at it, feeling a tad off put by its gaze. Then she hears it speak. And the familiar voice it uses catches her incredibly off guard.

"L...Lammy?"

If it wasn't for the strap around herself, she would have dropped her guitar right then and there. Instead, it merely hangs from her neck limply, making her wince as tries to collect some sort of words to say to him.

 _It's PaRappa_..I can't believe he's actually here!

She'd be lying to herself if she denied she was secretly hoping to see him down in the crowd, cheering them on. But he's actually right up here beside her.

It made her head spin as she tried to understand just _why_ he was here though…

And...is he wearing a MilkCan shirt? _He did something to it, I think..and it looks.._

 _Amazing. Just like him._

PaRappa feels his heart practically beating in his throat. _It's Lammy...and holy crap, she looks amazing._

He doesn't hear the lights overhead being switched on. All he can see is how she was giving him that soft smile that made his heart flutter now that he can finally see it again after so long.

The thin, tattered red shirt she had on gave an unmistakable view of her black, lacy bra through the gaps on the side of it. Combined with the short, black skirt, her charcoal grey eyeshadow, and the enticing view of her midriff, it all started to make his brain short circuit.

Never in all his days did he ever expect to see her wear something like _that_ \- he tries to force himself to say something to the seemingly stupefied lamb standing opposite of him, but was interrupted when the curtains in front of them shifted slightly.

Suddenly, they began to draw open, the lights overhead glaring even harsher than before. They squinted against the brightened beams, and noticed a large figure wandering onto the stage in their blurred vision.

"Hey everybody! As if the night couldn't get any better, it's the town's stars themselves!" MC King Kong Mushi's voice rings loud and clear through the speakers of the building, eliciting screams and shouts of excitement from the guests spectating it all.

"It's the rocking band, MilkCan-" Massive amounts of cheering erupt from the entire crowd. "-and PaRappa the rapper-" Even more ridiculous cheering. "-in a one of a kind performance you ain't gettin' anywhere else! They're playing a brand new song for y'all tonight! Take it away, girls!" He steps off the stage with more cheers and applause crowing out in excitement, waving to the people standing in the middle of the stage.

Lammy and PaRappa look back and forth between each other in utter confusion. _Wait...what?_

 _What did he say?_

Suddenly, Katy plays out a quick riff on her guitar, with Ma-San following suit. Lammy instantly begins to play along from muscle memory and sheer anxiety, the panic starting to rise up in her.

 _They never said anything about this! What do I do?!_

The rising terror begins to override the diminishing confidence she had from the guitar at such a surprise. She gives a mortified look over to PaRappa, who makes a breathing motion with his hands to her. He mouths out the words, " _Relax_!" as he begins moving along to the beat, a smile starting to come across his face.

 _Relax..._

Eventually, she shuts her eyes and takes a calming breath, before recollecting herself and stepping up to the microphone in front of her. Her voice sounds quiet as she wills herself to sing to the crowd before her.

" _O-on a lovely day, the sun sets in the sky_

 _The clouds gather, it starts to rain, all through the night_

 _I watch them as they fall, feeling so worried_

 _What do I do? I can't forget, that I must stay strong_

 _Every single day, no matter what I say -_

 _It won't match what's inside my heart…_ "

PaRappa could barely recollect his own words as the drumbeat shifted slightly. It did so just enough to where he was able to raise the microphone in his hands as he focused on the beat inside him.

He looked over at his side towards Lammy, motioning towards the crowd as he began.

" _To tell you the truth, I think every single day_

 _About how you light up my word in every way_

 _But misunderstandings made it all different now_

 _I just want to fix it, but I don't know how_

 _Your help is what I need - I know I must be a jerk_

 _But I want to find a way to make it all work_

 _With you gone, I don't have a way to move on.._ "

The lamb seemed to disregard his sincere words, her hands steadily strumming away at her guitar as she began to sing once more.

" _The sun begins to rise_

 _In a bright blue sky_

 _Another day, a sleepless night_

 _What else is new?_

 _So now I face the day_

 _Headon, with my guitar_

 _But I still don't know, how long I'll go_

 _With you not knowing_ "

PaRappa couldn't help the elated feeling rise within him when he catches her looking towards him as she sang the next verse.

" _S-sometimes it seems nice_

 _To follow your advice_

 _Yet I know what the truth'll be…_ "

Trying to ignore the scrambled thoughts forming wicked conspiracies about her specific words in his brain, he listens and the beat shifts once more. Bringing up his microphone again, he tries to force the words out past the growing excitement in him.

" _I know it's cheesy or whatever, but I mean every word I say_

 _I'll sing it if you'd listen, if it means you'd stay_

 _No more of the heartache, all the pain and regret_

 _It'll be in the past, and something we can forget_

 _Since I really miss you girl - and though I ain't all that smart_

 _That's something I'm saying that's straight from the heart."_

He notices her entire stature change at listening to his words; she plays off a quick riff before cheerily beginning to sing again, a noticeable change in the tone of her voice.

" _I just hope, someday soon, you'll see the truth_

 _And whether or not you feel the same_

 _Just know that I'm still here-_

 _And I'll be thinking of you!_ "

She hops forward and plays away on her guitar, her impressive solo eliciting a roar of applause from the crowd.

PaRappa watched again in awe as her hand zipped up and down the frets, eventually slowing down. He looks up at her to see her smiling at him adoringly.

Stepping up beside her, he brings the microphone up once more, and starts to sing out along with her.

" _I know I should go with what's in my heart_

 _And try to move past all my fears_

 _Yet I still think about what could happen_

 _If you feel differently_

 _So though I wish for something more between us_

 _I'm happy with just staying as your friend_

 _And I'll keep hoping on_

 _Keep hoping on_

 _Keep hoping on!_

 _Move on..._ yeah!"

They finish off the song once again with a quick, final strum, the sound reverberating through the entire room. Suddenly, massive amounts of cheering erupt, making Lammy stumble on her spot. She waves nervously to the crowd with a sheepish smile, not noticing Katy and Ma-San getting up from their positions.

The bass guitarist stands by her side and reaches for her hand, motioning for her to do the same with PaRappa, who was joined by Ma-San. Hand in hand, they each bow down together, waving to the crowd as the curtains begin to close once more.

As Katy lets go of her hand, Lammy feels her face become red when it takes PaRappa a few moments to do the same. She still couldn't help but happily dance on the spot, feeling a huge rush of excitement overtake her. "I can't believe it! They actually liked my song!" She looked over at the dog watching her admirably. "And you! You were _amazing_ out there! That was so awesome!"

Feeling himself caught up in her fervor as well, he laughs and howls out, "No Lammy - _we_ were awesome!" And bolts towards her to embrace her, not caring about the guitar that was still strapped to her.

She laughs in pure delight and brings him in closer to her, feeling all too thrilled over everything that had managed to happen.

From afar, Katy smirks and taps Ma-San on the shoulder with the tip of her tail. They both walk off stage, leaving only the two still standing there together.

Though he wished he could have stayed in the moment for just a moment longer, PaRappa winces and lets go of her, rubbing the parts of his fur that had been indented by the strings of the guitar.

"Oh, uh, sorry.." Lammy nervously tries to rub out the marks on his arm before taking back her hand, and looks at him worriedly.

"U-uh..i-it's no problem.." He itched underneath his beanie as they both now stand opposite of each other awkwardly, the only notable noises being the talking from behind the curtain, and the sounds of the stage hands off in the distance.

PaRappa could hear the words from Katy echoing through his mind as he tottered on the spot.

 _Ask. Her. Yourself._

Eventually, he quietly hums and murmurs cautiously, "Look, Lammy..i know it's a tense thing to talk about, but I just wanna get it out with you right now."

"PaRappa, no." Not feeling up to looking him in the eye, she stared down towards the guitar still strapped to her, plucking one of the strings thoughtlessly. "I-I just overreacted, is all...and I treated you _horribly…_ y-you don't have to worry about it anymore."

She could steadily feel the soaring stream of glee dieing out in her as she totters on the spot, desperately hoping for him to accept the easy way out, and make the inevitable talk between them over with. _I didn't want it to happen now…_

All that worrying, and hyping herself up...only for it to happen a day early.

To her dismay, he simply shakes his head, turning down her pathetic proposal. "No no, that's the thing! _Overreacted_ \- I did something terrible, and I want to know how I can fix it. So it doesn't happen again. Ever."

He steps forward slightly, making her pulse begin to heighten once more; unfortunately, it makes her cower down in fear, instead of reveling in it as before. "Please, Lammy."

She looks off to the side, the same unmistakable freezing feeling overtake her once more. _Now? Why now?_

"Please."

 _I can't do it! Not_ _ **now**_ _!_

Today was supposed to be a day where she could enjoy a burst of inspiration. Something to push her to go forward with the daring plans she had in store for the next day. Make her really think that she could do it.

 _I have to, though! Leave it to…_

 _..to..._

But now? Now, when she isn't sure if she could even handle the very _idea_ of something going wrong, since she hadn't had time to prepare. Prepare for another round of pain and heartbreak, yet pretend as if nothing was wrong this time, for the sake of their already fragile friendship.

" _Please_ , Lammy."

She feels her heart race when he reaches out to set a shaking hand on the neck of her guitar. She was trapped.

 _I can't! I can't do it!_

The downcast look on his face, paired with the weak whine being let out of him, made her shut her eyes in discomfort. _I can't…._

 _I…_

The breaking point came when he attempted to pull the guitar towards himself, along with his voice cracking out a broken, " _P-please..?_ "

She shakes her head, and without even thinking, blurts out, " _I-I didn't want you to leave me!_ "

Her entire body tenses at the moronic thing she felt herself say, which was now echoing through the stage. She can even barely notice the talking outside the curtain hush slightly, as if trying to pinpoint exactly it was that she said. _What?!_

 _What kind of..._ _ **what?!**_

That wasn't what she planned to say. Then again, nothing here was planned out…

With his hand still grasping the instrument, he stays where he is, but cocks his head slightly at her. "..leave you?"

The way he did so made her blush, and try to step away, only for her to be reminded that she couldn't go anywhere. "W-well..y-y-yea. I-I mean…" The stuttering can't stop, and now her voice is too quiet. "Y-y'know…" Clearing her throat slightly, she tries to squeak out, "S-since if you and Sunny..g-got together...y-you'd forget about me. A-a-and s-spend all y-your t-t-time with.. _her._ "

She still couldn't help the strain being put on the last syllable, since trying to say it made it all rush back..the pain, the heartache..the stupid situation that _she_ caused. All because of something that shouldn't even matter so much.

But..it was the truth. Or at least part of the truth. If he accepts it (oh God, hopefully he does), she won't have to say anything more... for now.

Maybe on a day, when she actually _plans it accordingly_ , with _no more surprises_ , she'll say the rest of it.

After a moment of silence, he simply blinks once. Then twice. And before she can register what's happening, he tugs the guitar closer to himself, which brings her right into his now outstretched arms.

She feels her entire body practically melt when she hears a quiet chuckle come out of him. "That would have never have happened. I don't leave my friends behind. Especially not you."

She feels herself tear up slightly. "You're my best friend, Lammy. I'm sorry if I made it seem like i would do that but I wouldn't ever. I-I'm _sorry_.."

Feeling a newfound sense of confidence wash away any remnants of the pain within her, she wiggles out of his grasp. He gazes at her with confusion until he watches her take the guitar off, and set it down onto the ground next to her.

She kneels down slightly to be eye leveled with him, and now he can plainly see how glossy her eyes were. "I-I-I'm sorry too, PaRappa...b-but thank you for explaining things to me." She nervously reaches her arms out to him now, giving him a timid look.

He laughs and practically jumps into her arms, feeling better than he's ever felt before.

 _It's all over with, now..._

 _I've got my bestfriend back, and I don't think i could be happier if I tried…_

He can't help but nuzzle into her, delighting in how amazing it felt to have her back in his life now. That same warm feeling that had been sitting in the back of his mind was returning full force, making him dearly wish this moment could last forever.

 _I can't really even remember the last time someone made me feel like this, actually…_

"Hey, sorry, but the next act is coming up. You're gonna have to get off the stage, now."

To his disappointment, he feels her let go of him at the stagehand's voice. "O-oh, sorry about that." She glances to her side and bends down to pick up the guitar.

He couldn't help but frown at the worker's interruption. _Jerk._

Feeling a smile come across his face when Lammy motions for him to walk alongside her, they head off of the stage together, the large space completely absent between them. "I-i still can't believe they liked my song so much…"

PaRappa laughs when he hears her ecstatic giggling. " See? I told you they would like it! You just had to believe.."

They finally leave the stage altogether amid the people now setting it up for the next performance, feeling all too happy to care about anything else right then.


	23. Concert 2

Katy grins widely when she sees the two steps off the stage together, close enough to nearly be hand in hand. "Hey you guys! Good to see you're talking to each other again."

Lammy notices the smug look on her face, and shyly glances downwards. PaRappa points it out anyways. "Hey..you were planning this all along, weren't you?"

He knew he felt something might have been up when she randomly showed up on his doorstep. _But who cares now?_

The cat shrugs impishly at the accusation. "Aw, i can't deny it! I just wanted you two together again." She winks at them, making Lammy titter in nervousness and PaRappa shake his head.

Lammy gives a quick glance to the guitar in her hand. "A-anyways, I-I gotta set my guitar away..do you have the key?"

"Oh, sure. Ma-San and I already did that, so here." She held it out for her friend to grab.

The lamb takes it, and fumbles with it for a moment before looking over at the dog next to her.

He nods at her. "I gotta go catch up with Mushi about something, actually...I'll talk to you in a bit while you get that settled."

 _Can't forget to let him know I'm alright._

She smiles at him agreeingly, making him hesitate as he walks away.

He finds the flea in question waving at him from the side of the clearing, one of his arms slung around Takoyama's shoulders. "Hey there, lil' pup! You seem awfully happy, now."

PaRappa bounces in place as he happily says, "That's just what I was gonna tell you! I feel amazing. Like my old self, again!"

He watches the octopus elbow the flea beside him, and loudly whisper, " _I told you it would work_!"

"Wait..you guys were in on this too?"

Mushi simply cackles in response, giving him a wicked thumbs up with that smile of his, while Takoyama giggles at the spectacle.

 _Wow. I can't tell if I'm really happy or embarrassed, right now._

"W-well, I gotta get going..I just wanted to let you know." Remembering that Lammy might be done setting her instrument away, he felt excited at the idea of being able to talk to her again.

"M'kay...see you later, lil' pup!"

The couple watches him run off in a hurry, before Mushi slaps his forehead. "Oh, man! I forgot to ask him something!"

The octopus holds his arms before he could walk after him. "It'll be fine, _mi_ _cariño_! Let kids be kids, you can find him later."

He simply looks at him skeptically before relaxing in his grasp. "Oh, alright. Whatever you say…"

PaRappa happily struts through the clearing, feeling too elated to notice the hubbub happening all around him. _We're best friends again…_

 _And she looked so happy too. So now I don't have to worry about her hating me anymore…_

He gives off a giddy snicker, and began slowing down his pace, nonchalantly stepping aside a group of stagehands carrying something together.

 _She sounded so nice when she was singing up there..._ nevermind the fact of what she was wearing (though that was nice too, of course) - that voice of hers made him turn into putty at hearing it.

He didn't think he would be able to hear it again so soon..

Suddenly, he spots her across the way. _Oh! There she is!_

He was about to bolt off towards her when he noticed how she was looking incredibly distressed; her hands were wrapped around her stomach, along with slouching to appear shorter than she really was.

It was then that he noticed who it was that was attempting to talk to her.

 _Wait a minute...is that Joe Chin?_

 _...what the heck is he doing here?_

He could barely hear what he was saying...he was too focused on how he leant against the wall beside Lammy, who was obviously uncomfortable with how close he was to herself.

Scooting just a few steps towards them, he craned his head carefully, trying hard to pick out their words against the background noise.

"Say now, how would you girls like to perform at one of my upcoming parties? I'm sure my guests would love to have you performing there!"

The lamb leant back against the wall behind her nervously, stuttering out, "W-well, y-y-you're gonna have to ask K-Katy about that...since s-she's the leader…..and…."

The narcissistic dog smiled a toothy grin at her. "Really? I'm sure a lovely lady such as yourself would have been the leader of all you girls."

"I-I-I-I-"

PaRappa gritted his teeth as he listened to him beginning to clearly flirt with her. How dare he…

How dare him to come down all this way, just to try and...do whatever it is he's doing!

Before he could realize it, he felt his legs carry himself straight over to Lammy's side, and growled out a low, "Hey, give her a break. She's tired. I don't think she wants to deal with some idiot trying to take her home with them." _Especially you._

The insult seemed to have gone in one ear and out the other, as Joe charmingly replied, "Why, PaRappa, it's so great to see you again! You've grown...older. And anyways, I didn't mean to come off that way." He grinned at Lammy. "I was trying to be as cordial as I could, but understandably, some of my immeasurable charm must have come through. My apologies."

He nonchalantly grabbed her hand and was about to kiss it before she yanked it out of his reach, scooting over to PaRappa's side. "O-o-oh, t-that's alright!" She smiled at her rescuer as he instinctively brought an arm to her side protectively.

Joe looked back and forth between them, and raised an eyebrow. "Well now PaRappa, whatever happened between you and Sunny? Did she...shoot down your efforts?"

He shook his head at him. "I don't wanna talk about it. C'mon Lammy."

"No need to be so irritated! I was simply wondering, as you both seem awfully chummy with each other." He waved back and forth between the two. "Your chemistry on the stage must have inevitably leaked into your real life relationship."

PaRappa felt his face start to heat up at what he was implying. "Yeah, anyways, nice to see you Joe." He began to walk away with Lammy alongside him as Joe belted out another narcissistic goodbye, when suddenly he felt a firm hand grab his shoulder.

"Now hold on just a moment!" The smaller dog angrily glared up at the larger, noticing his slight change in demeanor. "You made me nearly forget...I still have yet to figure out reservations for the band - and as such, I still have a few words to speak with _Lammy_ , here." He shot her a suave look, making her turn her head away in complete disgust.

Before PaRappa could growl out anything to provoke him further, he heard a voice from far away shout out, "If you want to plan anything with MilkCan, you're gonna have to get my okay first!"

Joe looked behind himself to see a blue cat gazing up at him, with the short mouse by her side giving him a warning look. "I'm sure Lammy's flattered and all, but I'm the official girl to do any sort of planning."

Giving a fleeting look to the shy lamb and peeved dog, he happily greeted the feline. "Ah, excellent! Please, let us continue this conversation elsewhere in that case, my dear lady!"

The cat nodded, but not before giving a quick wink to the pair. She waved for Ma-San to follow, giving a small chuckle when she spouted something (most likely inappropriate) in her native language before reluctantly following her.

PaRappa and Lammy watched them walk off together, eventually turning the other way and walking off as well. He let out a small huff as he tried to relax himself over what had happened.

 _Joe Chin himself. I thought we wouldn't have to deal with him anymore ever since he moved away...and got engaged._

 _Old habits die hard, I guess…_

He let out a curt breath, trying to calm himself, when he suddenly felt Lammy brush up against him. She nervously muttered next to his ear, "T-thank you for helping me back there. That was Joe Chin, wasn't it?"

Clearing his throat, he shakily replied, "Yeah, it was. Guess Katy told you enough stories about him to give you an idea of what he seemed like."

She gave a quiet laugh. "H-he definitely fit the picture perfectly...ugh. What a sleazeball…"

PaRappa smiled against the nervousness rising up in him at her comment, feeling himself starting to get over the sheer irritation he had earlier.

They continued walking backstage in a comfortable silence, and eventually entered the darkened corridors, from which several doors sat at separate intervals throughout them. After noticing Lammy stopping by one of them, he heard her stutter out, "I-I-I guess they're g-gonna be a while…m-maybe..w-we should wait for them to g-get back, I guess."

She dug into her pocket for a small key, specifically for the room that they had set up in. "We can just wait in our room for a bit, if y-you'd want…"

"..okay. Sounds good."

He watched her attempt to stick the key inside the hole, noting how she missed it a few times from how badly her hand was shaking.

 _We..have to spend time alone together? In a small room?_

 _...by ourselves?_

The very idea itself made his palms start to sweat. That unexplainable feeling he's been having lately was boiling up again, full force, and was giving rise to another dumb battle inside him.

Half of him desperately did not want to be there alone with her; something was bound to happen. He didn't know what, though. All he knew was that this illogical side was terrified of whatever it could be.

And the other half was making him follow her straight inside anyways, hands shoved into his pockets as he shut the door with his foot.

Inside was the red loveseat at one end, and the dresser and mirror at the other, along with the empty racks standing at the walls. Scattered across the floor was an array of instrument cases, which Lammy carefully nudged aside with her foot as she walked to the dresser.

"S-sorry about the mess...w-wasn't expecting company, heh…" She set the key down onto the dresser, and knelt down to fumble with her own guitar case, which was left open in a complete rush.

PaRappa felt his body beginning to ache from being on his feet for so long, so he reluctantly walked over to the couch, sitting down on it with a soft sigh. The red color was a definite eyesore (or at least he thought it was red), but at least the plushy cushions felt nice.

He watched as Lammy finally set her case holding her guitar at a wall against a nearby rack, looking content with the current state of it. She gazed over at him nervously, feeling a tad conscious when she noticed him watching her from his spot.

He scooches over so that he isn't sitting directly in the middle, taking her nervousness as a sign that she may be a bit hesitant on sharing the seating place. "You can sit down too, if you want. Don't let me hog up all the room."

She laughed as she walked over to him. "O-okay…" Lammy gave a soft sigh as she nestled down into the couch as well, using the armrest as a sort of pillow.

PaRappa felt himself start to panic at what he unwittingly did. _Oh, crap. Now she's right next to me._

 _..well, no duh. But...she's so close._

If he wanted to, he could just move over a few inches and rest his head against her arm. The thought of doing something so out of nowhere made his stomach turn, however.

 _But still...that sounds really nice, right about now._

He watched her let out a small yawn, and stretch herself out. His eyes traveled downwards for half a second when he noticed that her skirt had inadvertently rose up just slightly, and grumbled at himself to have enough decency next to her.

 _Stop being such a weirdo._

Needing to distract himself, he cleared his throat and stated in a quavering voice, "You look really tired.."

 _Oh, smart observation, you frickin' genius!_

She looked over at him with a small smirk. "Y-yeah, sorry...tends to happen after each big performance. It's a lot of fun to do but...it just takes a lot out of you…"

He nodded at her. "Yeah, I hear you." The fact that she always manages to push through her anxiety was a feat in itself. Of course, it must be really taxing on someone to go through all that stress…

Failing in his poor effort to divert his attention away to anything else besides her, he felt himself gazing over at her once again. He watched as her eyes fluttered shut, along with her settling back into the soft cushion into the couch.

For some odd reason, he really wanted to be closer to her. It was much more apparent how alone they were right now; and it seemed liked the right time to try something of the sort, without anyone else trying to butt in with their stupid assumptions.

 _Who cares why I want to? I haven't been able to do anything with her for a long while._

They went from doing things together nearly everyday, to a sudden halt in any interaction with each other. So in his eyes, it was completely justified. He just wants to be close to his best friend that he hasn't done anything with in a long while is all.

It wasn't as if he was secretly hoping for something else to happen as well. Something that maybe best friends don't usually do, on purely platonic terms. Whatever that would be.

 _...maybe she wouldn't mind if I got a little closer?_

He tries to sneakily scoot an inch nearer to her.

 _...no, maybe she will._

He stops himself from moving another inch.

 _...but I really want to._

He lets himself scoot over a little more.

 _...that's weird. Really weird. Why do I want to do that?_

Again, holding himself back once more.

 _...uh. I guess..i've really missed her closeness?_

..

... _right. I already told myself that. So it's a good enough reason, I guess._

After a bit more scooting over, he's now on her side of the couch. She didn't seem to have noticed, thankfully, as she still had her eyes shut. The only thing she did in response to his nearing presence was twitch one of her ears, and murmur something unintelligible.

She wasn't asleep, yet. But she wasn't completely awake either.

Feeling content in the much smaller space between them, he tried to get himself comfortable. _I guess she's really tired...or really relaxed…_ whatever it was, it was starting to affect him too. His eyes were beginning to droop as he leant back into the couch as well.

He stretched lazily, letting out a loud yawn when he did so, when he had an ingenious idea to finally close the area between them.

Exaggerating his stretching only slightly, he reached over and set his arm around her shoulders, finally relaxing and bringing her in closer to himself.

She barely stirred at the gesture, giving a slight smile to the dog as she leant against him tiredly.

 _Wow._ The oldest trick in the book..and it somehow _worked._

He let his eyes close, and began listening to the chanting from the crowd that was audible even from where they were sitting. The unmistakable noise of low bass notes buzzed through the room, juxtaposed against the barely discernable singing that was also in the music.

This was all really nice. Just relaxing...waiting while the others got back. Some nice, quiet time alone. And they were right next to each other too. Nothing unusual here. Nothing out of the ordinary about that at all.

..so why was his heart racing so much?

 _Just...relax. Don't worry about whatever...just don't let her find out how you're sorta starting to freak out right now._ It was as if his heart was running a marathon from how fast it felt, and he could barely manage to form a coherent thought - what was he supposed to do to stop that? It wasn't like there was anything weird going on at all. So he shouldn't be acting this way!

He feels his entire body nearly erupt in flames when she nuzzles her head into him, the affectionate gesture making him forget how to breathe. His brain officially meltdowns, making him let out a weak puff of air from sheer panic.

 _Gah! Too much contact! Too much of everything!_

 _This was a bad idea!_

He shuts his eyes tightly as he's reminded of something else; a thing that he dearly wished didn't as matter as much as it did to his stupid brain. _It doesn't help with what she's still wearing, either!_

 _Sooner or later, she's gonna realize something's up._ That'll be incredibly awkward to explain. ' _Yo, PaRappa, what's up with you? Why're you acting so weird?'_

 _...she doesn't talk like that, you idiot! Crap, I can't even think straight. What do I do?_

 _Uh, talk to her about something, I guess. Something so she doesn't bring attention to it._

He tries to force some semblance of words out, feeling the blush on his face deepening when his voice cracks. "S-so...hey, uh, Lammy?"

"Hm?" She doesn't move at all, and only lifts up one of her ears at hearing her name.

"Y-you...uh." He glanced around himself, his distracted sight scanning the decorated walls. "You remember when we first met?"

She doesn't respond immediately. Eventually, she muttered out a nostalgic, "...of course I do, silly." That'll be something she never forgets.

In a room a lot like this, too. Well, definitely nowhere near as fancy.

"Hmm..I was really tired back then too…" She sighs drowsily and nudges her head against him. "I-I wonder when Katy and Ma-San are gonna finally finish up their..w-whatever, so we can go home already."

He gulps audibly. _Go..home?_

...she didn't mean anything by that. _You dumb dog. Get your mind out of the gutter, would ya?_

What was wrong with him? Why was he panicking so much?

 _Probably because of the fact she's wearing next to nothing, sitting up next to you, and now you two are practically cuddling while you wait for everyone to get back already._

...right.

….right.

He squirms noticeably from the restless tension that was prickling all over himself, which makes a dozy Lammy perk her head up, her partial sleep interrupted. She eyes him skeptically. "..something on your mind?"

"What?! Ha, no! Everything's fine!" _You're being too obvious, calm down!_ "Ehh, everything's good...nothin' at all to worry about."

A few moments of silent sat between them, the look on her face unwavering. _She ain't buying it. Crap, what do I do now?_

Thankfully, Lammy shakes her head softly and relaxes against him once more, using his side as a pillow of sorts.

He lets out an inaudible sigh of relief. _That was way too close for comfort…_

 _Way too close._

How was he gonna explain the weird way he was acting right now? _Sorry, I'm just too happy finally being here with you, and all my stupid feelings are building up and making me way too aware of some things. And also, something else (I don't exactly know what) is making me feel really weird next to you._

The burning area of contact where their sides were touching was beginning to become way too much to handle - what was once soft and warm felt like someone lit his fur on fire with a match. He was only trying now to count the minutes down, and keep his breathing as normal as possible, to avoid any klutzy explanations from his side.

 _Why are Katy and Ma-San taking so damn long?_

He could only pretend that everything was perfectly fine for so long..but that itself wasn't even working. She already picked up on it.

Sure, she must be too tired to think too much of it, but it was still-

"...hey, P-PaRappa?"

"..yeah?" _Oh no._

Her voice sounded incredibly pained and serious - it made his stomach hurt even more than it already was to hear such a tone in it. The sound of it immediately reminded him of himself recently; and one of the last things he would ever want would be for his own best friend to feel like that, ever.

"Y-you really forgive me after all that?"

"...what?" She isn't talking about what he think she's talking about, is she?

"I-I mean...I was rude to you. I can't remember what i said when I was drunk that one night...but I know it wasn't good." Her voice lowers even more, and he has to strain his ears to hear her. "I-I guess I'm still trying t-to figure out _why_ you stuck around even after I was so.. _t_ - _t_ - _terrible_ to you…"

PaRappa shifts slightly, and shakes his head at the harsh accusation. "Lammy, we're best friends. And I knew you wouldn't get like that for no reason at all."

Sure, it hurt to be treated so. It was still freshly engraved in his mind how it constantly ached inside of him.

"It had to be something I did to make you so upset…" Even through all of that, he still tried everything in his power to uncover what it was he did. And..it all worked out okay.

 _Goes to show that you should always…_

He lifts an ear at what undeniably sounds like her sniffling, albeit very quietly. Taking his arm back (with reluctant relief), he notices her gazing back at him with teary eyes.

"L-Lammy? Why're you...?" They already cleared up everything between them. Why was she still emotional over it all?

She tries to nonchalantly shrug, but in an instant moves forward and takes him in her arms, making his heartbeat skyrocket once more. His brain is fogged up from pure bewilderment as he hears her starting to sob right next to his ear.

She chokes out the words, " _I-I'm so sorry..I should of just told you from the start.. I-it all could have b-b-been avoided if I j-just told you…_ "

"Lammy, it's okay!" He finally snaps himself out of his frozen state, and brings his own arms around her as well, desperately wishing for her to stop crying. The very sound anguished him to no end, especially now. "Everything's better now! You, uh, can be happy for that, at the very least!"

" _I-i..._

"Y'know...especially since I know I sure am."

After a few bouts of silence and him rubbing her back in an attempt to calm her, she mutters back a soft, ".. _o-okay. I-I guess you're right_.."

She pulls away from him, but doesn't relax her grasp, moving only enough so that she was now looking directly at his face. She studied him for a few moments, cocking her head only slightly, and gave him a shy smirk that made his stomach do backflips.

He notices a lone tear about to fall, and reaches out to catch it before it did, freezing his arm in its spot when he realized what he did.

. _..oh. I'm touching her face._

… _.she might get angry or weirded out, don't do that, you idiot!_

To his complete surprise, she didn't seem all too upset by the action at all. Her eyes had widened by a tiny bit, but she simply nuzzled into his hand, her smile growing just slightly.

Relaxing the muscles in his arm that had been petrified a moment ago, he lets his hand travel to the side of her cheek, trying to wipe away the rest of the tears that had already fallen with his thumb.

Lammy was always one to be freaking out over something happening (from what he could remember), but she looks completely calm right now. Even though she's just a few inches away from him. And if he just moved forward a little bit…

And just…

The dreamy look she was giving him was distinctly making his heart ache. A bizarre range of thoughts kept popping into his head, making him question what it was he was even actually feeling.

 _So close.._

 _..amazing…_

 _...super kissable.._

 _Wait_ , _what was that last part?_ He tries to blink away the persistent fog that was crowding up his mind, and making him smile woozily.

... _I can't remember._

He's just caught up in how amazing she looks right now. Sure, he could still feel his heart pumping to an uncomfortable degree..but not out of fear, mostly.

Now it was..whatever he was feeling with _her_.

A sudden impulse in him makes him squirm for a second as he studies her face once more. He swears, she must be blushing just as badly as he felt he was.

The weird hunch inside him still hasn't faded away, however. It takes him nearly everything to hold back the confused, desperate whine that wanted to come out of him. _..I don't know what to do…_

 _..but maybe since she's here..so close...it'll be alright._

He rubs her cheek softly as he feels himself start to lean in, feeling an elated bolt of excitement go through him when he sees her do the same for just a moment.

Her breath makes his fur tingle as she moves closer and closer to him; the hand opposite his on the couch finally manages to inch close enough to it's destination, tangling itself up with his.

 _ **BLAM!**_ Suddenly, a laughing flea throws the door wide open, making the two quickly jump apart as they attempt to cover their reddened faces.

 _What in the honest hell? Did I seriously forget to lock the door?_

"Hey, hey now! How are my two performers doin' tonight?" MC Mushi bumbled over to them, throwing a hand onto their shoulders, oblivious to their flustered demeanors. "You two have great chemistry together! Must explain why you did so well out there!"

They didn't say anything; Lammy was shaking in his grasp at realizing what had almost happened now that she was completely awake, and it made her want to melt into a puddle in the floor. Or barf. Probably a combination of the two, somehow...

PaRappa felt irritatingly confused at being jarred out of the moment, his head swimming as he attempted to replay the events in his head. He felt furious at his former teacher's sudden entrance, which made him growl softly in annoyance.

 _If he wasn't my teacher back then, and done this for all of us, I swear, I would..._

The flea looked back and forth between the lamb and dog, two of his arms crossed and two hands on his hips. "Hey...now hold on a moment." He stood back a few steps while smirking at them, one hand leaving its spot to point back and forth between them. "I see what's goin' on here.."

 _Uh oh._ Was it really that obvious?

PaRappa alarmingly looked over at Lammy, who simply gazed back at him with an equally terrified look.

"Yeah...I can tell...you two are absolutely exhausted! Probably after having your first _real_ performance, huh?" He used one of his hands to lift up his glasses enough so he could wipe away a tear, while the two let out a shaky exhale. "Why, I knew you when you were just a little pup, PaRappa...now, you're a...a little dog. All on your own. I could just cry and cry right now…"

PaRappa tried to clear his throat before muttering a low, "T-thanks…I guess…."

The lamb sitting next to him shivered slightly before she mumbled, "Y-yeah...thank you….for the o-opportunity, Mr. Mushi..."

"Oh! You, little guitarist!" He walked to the couch and sat down between them, bumping PaRappa farther to the side as he strung an arm over her shoulders. "I ain't much in the 'rock' scene myself, but I think I might know someone who can help you girls out. Because that was...AMAZING. And I don't even like rock and roll that much, haha!"

"Eh...heh…." Lammy tried to force out a shy laugh in response.

"So anyways, here's what I've been thinking…" He waved a finger thoughtfully. "Maybe tonight, I'll leave in a good word for you, get your name recognized so you could have a chance, if _y'know_ _what_ _I_ _mean_...after you talk it out with your bandmates, of course." He gave her a wide grin, waiting eagerly for her response.

"W-wow….really?! That sounds...amazing! Thank you!"

MC Mushi winked at her, and let her go, getting himself up off the couch with a hefty heave. "Hey now, you help me, I help you." He pointed all four of his hands at her, clicking his tongue. "Anyways, I gotta get going. You two have a good night; thanks again for comin'!" And with a short wave, he walked out of the room and shut the door, leaving them alone again.

They sat in silence for a few moments, with PaRappa wincing at noticing the large space now between them again, and Lammy still having her mind buzz with terror, until the door was knocked upon softly.

The lamb shook her head, and shouted out a disconcerted, "C-come in…"

PaRappa grumbled to himself as Katy and Ma-San walked into the room. _As least someone knows how to knock…_

"Hey you guys…" Katy huffed softly as she bent down to organize the instrument cases. "Geez. I knew Joe was a talker, but I didn't know he could waste about an hour just talking about himself so much…"

 _An hour?_

The dog looked over at Lammy nervously, seeing her giving him a slight shrug in response.

"Whew. Glad that's over with. Can you believe that he completely forgot to ask me about setting up anything? He was too busy trying to be a total flirt..." She laughed loudly as she set the cases against the wall. "Ha..not in a million years, or a million dollars…"

Ma-San grunted irritatingly. "He tried to get into both of your guys' pants, but completely ignored me. Figures.."

Katy shook her head at her. "Oh, Ma-San...doesn't help that you were glaring at him like he was a rabid animal the entire time." She chuckled as the mouse harrumphed in response. "Plus, Joe is a complete dunce. If you ask me, you're one of the prettiest girls I've met."

The mouse's eyes widened at this compliment, and she hurriedly muttered, "Oh, well, heh..thanks." Gathering up the several cases for her drumkit, she muttered under her breath, " _Y_ - _you're_ _just_ _saying_ _that_ …"

Katy finally finished cleaning up her case, and held it firmly by the handle. "So you two; ready to get going? If I know Lammy well enough, I'd bet she's feeling pretty exhausted right about now." She raised an eyebrow at her as she awaited an answer.

The lamb nervously cleared her throat before responding, "Y-yeah...I'm, uh, pretty tired…"

Katy nodded at her. "You ready to get going then, PaRappa?" She looked over at the dog for an answer, instead noticing how he was staring off into space, a blank expression on his face. _Did he not hear anything I said? Well, it doesn't matter, I guess._ "..PaRappa?" Still no response. "PARAPPA!"

"Gah!" He shook his head as he bolted off the couch, blinking his eyes carefully. Eventually, he looked at the cat now in front of him distractedly. "Oh, yeah, sorry...was kinda spacing out there…"

She rose a skeptical eyebrow at him. What's with him being all flustered? Staring at his shoes and acting like some nervous wreck..

Usually, she would have investigated matters, but was alerted to Lammy's drowsiness when she let out a loud yawn. _That'll have to wait for another day._

They all began walking out of the room, each holding a set of instruments, and paying little mind to the flea and octopus standing a bit ways away.

Mushi grinned wildly and waved one of his many arms at the leaving performers. "Have a safe trip home you guys, y'hear me?"

The octopus noticed the dog and lamb seeming a bit distant from each other as they followed the cat and mouse, their gazes set on anything but each other. "Hmm...are you sure they are on talking terms again? They still don't seem to have settled things out yet."

"Oh no, babe, they have! The lil' pup told me himself afterwards! You remember that, don't ya?"

The invertebrate gave the bug a doubting glare. "..what were they doing when you checked on them, Mushi?"

He flinched at hearing his name. "Oh, nothin' much. Just sittin' on the couch, is all."

"What, together?"

"Uh..yeah. Together. You shoulda seen their poor, tuckered out faces! Sittin' up like lil' kids caught snoozin' at school…" He smiled dumbly at explaining it all, looking absolutely delighted, to Takoyama's horror.

"Did you remember to knock before you went in, at the very least?"

Mushi stopped his chuckling. "Uhh..no?"

The octopus's tentacles immediately deepened scarlet. "Ay, do you have any idea what you've done, then?"

What was he seeing that he didn't catch? "No. What is it?"

The octopus quickly glanced around himself, before stepping closer and saying in a hushed voice, " _They could have been having a 'moment', and you went and ruined it all!_ "

The flea stepped back, a look of understanding dawning on his face. "Ohh...so you're tellin' me…" Suddenly, he brought all of his hands up to his head in alarm. "Oh _no!_ I just ruined the lil' guy's chances of gettin' laid!"

Takoyama slapped a hand against his forehead. Not exactly what he meant by that. Why must he be so vulgar sometimes? " _Tu eres un pendejo…_ "

They all looked across the now empty parking lot, the only remnant of light still on being the dull orange street lights casting their tiring glow, and the spare lights from buildings from afar. A thin, cloud obscured moon looked down upon them as they began to say their goodbyes to each other.

Katy waved at PaRappa after unlocking the van's doors, and setting the instrument cases in. "Whelp..see ya PaRappa! It was nice to see you again!"

Ma-San followed her soon after. "Yeah, see ya."

"U-uh, yeah, bye.." The dog waved at the two girls heading into the van together, and gazed up at the one who had walked up to him.

Lammy rubbed her arm, looking slightly embarrassed, but mostly downhearted than anything. She gave him a weak smile, saying to him, "T-thanks for coming today…"

"Oh yeah, of course!" He tried to smile back, feeling the same familiar heat start to come across his cheeks once more. "I, uh...guess I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

Lammy grinned widely at him. "Yeah. Tomorrow." She leant down towards him, holding out her arms in that expectant way he's grown very familiar with.

He walks up and revels in the feeling of being embraced by her. _So warm...and soft too._

 _And it's just nothing but her. I wish i didn't have to let go…_

Of course, eventually she does, and as always, the same feeling of disappointment rises up once more. When she lets go of him, he could have sworn she saw her hesitate for a split moment, as if she was going to say or do something. But still she turns away, and walks into the van.

He watches as it sputters to life, and drive off slowly towards the roads in the distance, clicking one of it's broken signals to begin its journey to each of their homes…

And then it was completely out of sight.

PaRappa sighs, and rubbed his arm forlornly. Now he was all alone in this stupid parking lot. He probably should have offered her a ride instead, or something. Crap, why hadn't he thought of that at the time?! That would have been perfect..

 _Oh well..no use pouting over it now, I guess._

He was about to set out on his way towards his own car when a sudden realization hits him square in the face, making him freeze on the spot. _Oh, wait...the jam session is tomorrow._ _ **Tomorrow.**_

 _Aw geez...what's even gonna happen, at this point?_


	24. About Last Night

Lammy blinked her eyes open, wincing and then immediately shutting them as the blinding sunlight seared her eyesight. Sitting herself up, she yawned loudly, stretching her aching back from evidently sleeping on the couch.

She rubbed an eye as she contemplated over the strange thoughts brewing in her mind. A concert, and her actually being the lead singer...along with PaRappa showing up?

"Phew...it was just a dream."

...a really, _weird_ dream, at that, however.

Her imagination really went out all this time. Usually it would be something small, like maybe her friends visiting her at home, and _he_ happened to come along. But this time?

 _It felt so real..I could swear that he was right in front of me..and..._

Rubbing her cheek mournfully, she shook her head and got off of the couch. She let her distracted eyes fall on the sight of her guitar, out of its case, along with a few crumpled balls of paper nearby as well.

She scowled as she bent down to pick up an empty bottle. _I'm back on this again?_

Grumbling lowly, she tossed it into the trash, and hurriedly began packing up her instrument. She bent over to reach for a nearby crumpled paper ball, intending to read whatever it was she wrote in it. The last thing she wanted to do was..

Wait. What day was it?

A bolt of alarm swam through her as she took in a contemplative breath.

 _..Monday? No, that can't be right..otherwise my alarm would have gone off for the MilkCan session._

Lammy glanced around herself, stating to no one, "...where did my phone go?" She eventually noticed the device next to the wall, charging.

 _Huh._ Picking it up, the lamb unplugged it, and gazed at the screen, searching for the date.

 _..Saturday?_

Something about seeing that day highlighted in its fluorescent font unnerved her; she winced as if felt like her stomach flipped over onto its side.

Swiping the screen, she worriedly wandered through the room, noticing a few new messages from Katy.

[ Hey Lammy! Just wanted to let you know that Ma-San and I got home safely.]

[ She wanted me to tell you that she hopes everything goes well tomorrow! ;) ]

Huh? Goes..what did she mean by that?

Unless…

… _.oh._ _ **Oh no.**_

Lammy felt suddenly imbalanced, as if the most feeble wind could be enough to blow her down. _That means…_

 _That wasn't a dream after all!_

With her heart beginning to pound, the memories immediately began flooding back - the horrific tension before the concert, the shock of hearing his voice in the darkness, the cheering from the crowd, and..

 _It wasn't a dream._

She swooned on the spot as she vividly recalled the sensation of how his fur was so much softer than it looked, and how he was staring at her with the same tense confusion she had.

And then..shutting her eyes, and being close enough to feel his breath, and...almost….

 _That was all_ _ **real**_ _!_

The last thing she remembered seeing was the stupid, bright sunlight glaring in through the nearby window as she fell backwards onto the couch.

PaRappa gazes up at the cloudy sky above him once more, letting out a shaking sigh, illuminated bright by the chill in the air, as he adjusted his grip on the skateboard under his arm. A sudden breeze brought him out of his thoughts, making him shudder as he adjusted the collar of his jacket.

He was walking his sister Pinto to the nearby bus-stop. She was wearing a magenta sweater, complete with pink gloves and boots. After getting to their destination, they stood together in silence, waiting for the bus to come, until she took it upon herself to break the silence. "..PaRappa, you haven't done this for me in a year. What's the big idea?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, nothin'." He itched underneath his beanie nervously, whistling before adding on, "I needed some fresh air.." He looked all around himself, trying to make it seem like he was enjoying the environment. "And what better way to do it than by walking my favorite lil' sis to the bus like we used to?"

She squinted at him. "Yeah, no. I know something's up with you." She tapped a foot as she set a hand on her hip, cocking her head inquisitively. "Did something weird happen at the concert you went to last night?"

 _Last night?_

He tugged again at his jacket as the still incredibly vivid memory replayed itself for the umpteenth time in his head, prompting him to turn away embarrassingly. "Uhm. You could say that."

"Huh. Cause I was about to say...you didn't even tell me, or Dad anything about it. Which never happens! You just went straight to your room."

He shuffled on the spot as she started bouncing excitedly, her hands tugging on the straps of her backpack. "So what gives? I wanna know!"

"U-uhh…." The last thing he needed was to be interrogated about it right now. "...oh, hey! The bus is here!"

He quickly held out his arms at the vehicle as it slowly revved their way towards them, the smoke billowing from underneath it making him cough.

She huffs angrily. "Alright big bro, you get off the hook this time. But when _I get home_ , you better expect to be spillin' them beans."

PaRappa gulped audibly as she turned away, heaving up each step at the front of the bus. _Why does she have to be so observant?_

Shaking his head, he turned around and began walking back home, eventually deciding to set down his skateboard and use it.

 _Great._ _ **Now**_ _what am I gonna do? Not only is the jam session today, but now I have to worry about Pinto being on my case about it.._

He groaned, wanting to tug his beanie down embarrassingly. His stomach was beginning to ache from the anxiety building up within him, causing rise to an entire stew of emotions to bubble up. Nervousness, excitement, and a few others he was still immensely confused about.

 _What am I gonna do..?_

Lammy nervously readjusted her grip on the guitar case's handle, feeling all too queasy on this Saturday morning. She kept her gaze steadfast on the same sidewalk she's used for walking to PJ's house for years now.

Taking each step felt like wading through wet concrete. _What's even gonna happen today?_

Ever since she was jolted awake by _someone who really needed to learn how to knock first_ , she hadn't been able to stop thinking about it. It kept replaying itself over and _over_ in her mind. And she didn't know what to even think about it.

Well, sure, she was happy. Ecstatic, even! And it made her all the more upset and infuriated at how she _almost had it_. That she almost had what she's been wanting for so long now.

 _So long…_

But now...she has to see him again. Right after all _that_. How is she going to handle it all? She _can't!_

She can already see the Katy and Ma-San shouting at her, _do it! Go for it! Now's your chance!_

 _Something! Anything!_ _ **Especially after yesterday night!**_

"Uuuggghh.." She stopped in her tracks, having to set her guitar down in order to rub her hands down her reddening face. There's no way she could do that.

All those other times: at the movies, the beach, it was hard enough. She could barely manage it back then.

But _now?_ This time, she knew it for sure. She just couldn't do it.

Yet..she _almost_ had it. Almost…and that just goes to show..

 _Wait, no. I couldn't really do anything even if I wanted to. PJ is gonna be there._

She let out a somewhat reluctant sigh of relief, picking up the guitar and slowly walking again. Right. You can't exactly, err, confess your feelings with someone else in the room. That'd be just a bit strange. Even if it _was_ someone as relaxed about everything as PJ.

The lamb felt somewhat dismayed by the thought anyways. That stubborn part of her still wanted the chance, even though she knew she wasn't going to go for it. _I just can't make up my mind about this, can I?_

 _Why does everything have to be-_

Lammy suddenly felt something strange at the back of her neck. She immediately looked behind her, her eyes scanning the intersection she had just crossed, only to see no one there. Just a green truck driving off into the distance.

 _Huh. That was weird._

Shrugging off the sudden paranoia of someone watching her a moment ago, she trots along a bit faster. She ahead of her to see PJ's house on the distant horizon, to which she gave a bright smile at.

Though she admittedly had problems with keeping track of time, and always barely made it to wherever before she could be considered late, this was the only thing she managed to be early to.

Though the fading panic still tried to discourage her, she attempted to push past it, letting out a nervous giggle as she hurried along to the jam session.

PaRappa hears his phone buzz in his pocket, and slows down the speed on his skateboard to take it out and swipe the screen.

He brings it up to his ear. "Yo."

" _Hey PaRappa._ " His friend's familiar drowsy voice speaks loud and clear through the speaker. " _Just wonderin' if you were coming to the jam session today. Y'know, the one Lammy set up and all?_ "

He couldn't help the flutter of excitement rising up at the mention of her name, and the subsequent thoughts accompanying it. "Y-yeah, I'm on my way right now." There was a quick pause before he added on, "and before you ask, I'm not stopping to get you anything. Go inside and make something."

He heard a quiet chuckle in reply. " _I just wanted to make sure you were coming - I wasn't planning on asking. But now that you mention it.._ "

PaRappa listened to the bear mumble a list of snacks to himself. "Don't worry PJ, I'm almost there. See you in a bit."

" _See you, PaRappa._ " After hearing the phone beep to signify the call ending, he quickly shoves his phone back into his pocket. _As if I could forget..._

He speeds up his pace slightly, enjoying the chill in the air as it blew past him. _This is really happening, isn't it?_

The jam session is finally happening. After all that time of tense silence, feeling like he wasn't himself anymore, and all those sleepless nights (that he may or may not have cried himself to exhaustion at some point), he gets to play against Lammy again. And it'll be great - like everything used to be!

His face flushes as he once again remembers the events from last night. _Maybe not like everything_ _used_ _to be. Since something definitely changed._ The memories of the excruciating heat where their sides were touching, her soft gaze of endearment, and _everything else…_

The dog shakes his head, tugging softly at the collar of his jacket as if to cool himself down. _Whoa there. Relax._

 _Nothing might even happen today._ PJ was gonna be there, so any possibility of them trying to resume their...whatever, was out of the question.

If anything, she was probably going to act like nothing had happened. Since it was all probably just a mistake.

She was tired. Tired, and probably still ridiculously elated from her first performance of being the main guitarist, and the applause she didn't expect at all. And him? His feelings must have gotten out of hand and had tried to show themselves in a way he didn't intend to...probably.

 _Wait. What do I mean,_ _ **probably**_ _?_

"Ugh.." He tugged on his beanie, immediately lifting it back up in the nick of time to see the stop sign heading his way. Quickly bypassing it, he tried to keep steady on the skateboard, exhaling slowly.

Nothing was going to happen today. They were just gonna play together like old times, and try to see who the better player of them was. And it'll be great!

Maybe she won't act all nonchalant either. It might not even be too awkward at all. _And maybe something could happen after all…?_

He smirked as his mind wandered to the idea of a gleeful Lammy scooping him up in her arms, tossing her guitar aside in favor of him. She nuzzled into him so sweetly, softly talking and purring ( _lambs don't purr…_ ) as he squirmed from all the affection.

Not reacting to nearly hitting a pole, he blinks in surprise as the imaginary PaRappa let out an elated bark and landed a quick peck on the Lammy's cheek in return.

 _Wait, what? No!_ He swatted away at the daydream, his entire face becoming red. _Don't think like that! She probably doesn't even feel the same way!_

 _.._

…. _but what if she did?_

With a large grin spreading across his face, he was so absorbed into his thoughts that he only went a few feet more before slamming face first into the truck at the crosswalk ahead of him.

 _ **BLAM!**_

The bewildered dog fell back onto the sidewalk with a heavy **thud**. His skateboard flew off into the nearby grass, toppling over on its side, its wheels squeaking softly.

His hat covered his eyes that were shut in pain and sheer shock. He groaned as he tried to sit up; he grasped pathetically at the air for a hold that wasn't there, until he felt a hand grab his.

And then he heard her voice.

"PaRappa! Oh no, I didn't hurt you, did I?"

The sickly sweet aroma wafting through the air makes him attempt to recoil away from the source of the voice. "...no. I'm fine now," grumbles a sickened PaRappa as he gets onto his feet and lifts up his beanie to his rightful spot.

His head throbbed as Sunny Funny gave him a welcoming smile, making him feel marginally angry for some reason that he couldn't explain. She was wearing a silky white dress, adorned with pink frills. It fluidly flowed in each breeze.

She shuffles a foot, acting uncharacteristically nervous. "I was just on my way to see you! And I'm so happy to find you, but of all the ways to bump into you..I'd say this was probably one of the worst."

 _It would be better if you weren't here at all._ "Uh, yeah. But what are you doing back here? I thought you moved away. Forever. To the city, to live out all the dreams and hopes you had?"

 _Y'know? That time you explained it all to me, and just set me in the same category as everyone else? Nothing for you here in lame ol' PaRappa Town?_

"Oh no, I did!" She reached up to smooth out one of her petals, her eyes gazing downwards. "But everything was the same out in the city, unexpectedly. So I came back. I was finishing the last trip of bringing all my stuff back, and was going to see you afterwards.."

He twitches an ear distastefully. _What makes you think I'd wanna do anything with you now?_ "That's cool and all, but I'm busy today already."

She nods, and tilts her head curiously. "Oh...maybe you could reschedule then? I haven't seen you in a while. And i was really hoping to do something with you. Just us."

 _Ugh_. He felt a heavy twinge of disgust bubble up underneath all the expansive joy that was showing up at seeing her. Sunny was here! It's a miracle, a dream come true!

...so why isn't he as happy as he should be feeling?

 _She just comes back unannounced, and expects everything to be okay again?_

 _And for me to drop everything I'm doing, just to do whatever with her?_

Admittedly, he most likely would have done that before. Maybe he would have even done it now, but he has a jam session to be heading to. Along with someone who he's been wanting to see all morning.

 _I can't leave Lammy waiting! Well, PJ too. But Lammy! She's there. And..i wanna see her real bad!_

Trying to push pash the rising anxiety at seeing her after what had happened the previous night, it was soon replaced with a sudden urgency instead to get going already.

He'd have to deal with this later. After he meets up with her. After he figures out how she actually feels about everything (and not fantasize about what'll happen..), and after he has a clear head that wasn't developing a bruise while he hastily tried to gather up his skateboard.

"Yeah! A reschedule sounds good, Sunny! I really have to get goin', I'm gonna be late!"

"W-wait, no! I meant with what you were already going to do today!" She huffs irritatingly as he hops onto his skateboard.

His mind becoming too distracted, he halfheartedly waves at her, already heading on his way. "Yea, see you later Sunny!"

 _The sooner I can get out of here, the better._

PaRappa finally arrives at the garage in a huff, heaving for air as he gazes over his shoulder worriedly. He hops off his skateboard a few feet away from the building as the back of his neck prickles anxiously. _I really hope she didn't follow me.._

That'd be an even more disastrous situation to have to figure out. Good grief.

His heart felt as if it was about to beat out of his chest from how fast it was racing - his lungs strained as he doubled over to attempt to catch his breath.

 _Gotta relax. Don't worry about anything! You're here, and safe now._ When the unmistakable sound of a guitar being tuned rings through the air, the panic coils and bites into him full force.

 _Lammy! She's here already?_

 _..well of course she is. She always manages to be early for our jam sessions.._

Walking closer inside, he can see her with her back to him. Her ears were turning this way and that as she slowly turned one of the knobs on the head of the guitar.

The rapper runs over to her ecstatically, as if he hadn't been out of breath just moments before. "Hey Lammy! Gosh, I'm so happy to see you!"

He blushes as the words escape from his mouth. _That's not weird to say, is it?_ But it wasn't a lie, at least! After what had happened earlier, he couldn't feel better now.

She jolts on the spot at his voice, and hastily turns around, her entire face beginning to flush. "Oh! H-hey there, PaRappa.." The lamb shyly reaches up to set a lock of hair behind her lowering ears, her entire stature relaxing as he walked over to her. "Y-you scared me there..b-but I'm really happy to see you too!"

He walks over to the wall and sets his skateboard against it, and hurriedly runs over to her, throwing his arms around her once he did so.

She wobbles on the spot unsteadily. His tail began to wag as he gazes up at her with an ecstatic look. "Sorry Lammy. I just had a _really_ rough time getting over here." Again, the words just spill out of his mouth. "B-but I'm feeling a lot better now thanks to you!"

Her eyes widen at his statement. Immediately he worries that he may have said something out of line, and loosened his grip slightly, intending to back away.

Thankfully she chuckled softly after a moment, leaning down so that she could hug him as well. "I-I-I'm feeling a lot better now that you're here too…"

 _Wow. Really?_ He sighs contently, trying to nuzzle into her. _She isn't mad, or upset. She's happy to see me..._ PaRappa swoons before she sets a hand on his head. He flinches at the touch. " _O-ouch."_

Lammy immediately lets go of him, her hands taken back and over her mouth. "Oh c-crap, I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"Well, no. Not really?" He rubs his head carefully (trying not to touch the bruise), stammering, "I-it's a bit of a weird story."

He didn't wanna have to explain what just happened back there. Last thing he needs is everyone freaking out over Sunny being back in town.

Jam sessions aren't meant for freakouts! Well, over anything not music related. They're meant for blowing off steam, playing your heart out, and just having a break from anything going on in life. Afterwards, once the session is done, he'll tell everyone what went on. He just wants to calm down for now.

The door at the back of the garage opens, with PJ stumbling out of it, his height making it difficult for him to fit through the frame. "Oh hey PaRappa! You look...kinda messy."

From a bit ways away, Lammy let out a silent sigh. _So it wasn't just me thinking that.._

 _...something must've happened earlier to him._

"Uh…" The dog scratches underneath his beanie. "...it's nothin'. But anyways, it isn't so bad Lammy. I just ran into..something, on the way here. Still kinda sore, I guess."

He lifts his hat up slightly. The lamb gasps and runs over to him. "PaRappa! T-that looks really painful….t-t-there's a huge bruise right there!"

PJ walks over and looks over her shoulder, raising an eyebrow. "Gee, what'd you run into? A dump truck?"

The dog blushes. _Oh, it was a truck, alright.._

The bear was about to reach over to him, but stepped back, instead looking back and forth between Lammy and PaRappa. "Huh. Actually, y'know what? I think i might have something inside to help with that.."

He slowly begins to walks backwards toward the door he had come through. "I can't remember exactly where I left it, so it'll take me a moment; you two relax out here while I go find it." And with that, he quickly headed inside the door.

PaRappa shakes his head slowly, mumbling, "It ain't _that_ bad…making it look like I-" his words abruptly cut off as Lammy reaches over to softly grab his face, her eyes inspecting the bruise.

"I-I know something happened while you were on your way over here, PaRappa...you didn't get into a fight, did you?" Her eyes glaze over as she squints out towards the open garage door, grumbling, " _I swear, I-I'll go and-_ "

He titters nervously. _She's all protective like this over me?_ "N-no Lammy, I already said..uhh…" She begins to rub the bruise softly, the sensation making him melt and his words taper off. "Uh..I, wasn't watchin' where I was goin'..." He shut his eyes as he wags his tail slowly in content.

"You gotta be careful then...I-I wouldn't' want a-anything bad happening to you.." He slowly opens his eyes to see her looking back at him warmly. The feeling that had been showing up around her began bubbling up again, making him grin sheepishly.

"I'll make sure to be more careful next time, then."

"Good.." She softly cocks her head, her eyes searching his face, and ultimately averting away.

Becoming suspicious, he feels the panic erupt as he remembers the night before again. _Oh no. She's gonna mention it, isn't she?_

 _It's the perfect time to..since we're alone and all.._

 _Wait. We're_ _ **alone**_ _._

The panic grows into a full on fire before she softly mumbles, "Hey, u-uh...I. Well. A-about last night-"

"Hey, I found it!' PJ's excited voice barrels through the garage and echoes harshly off the walls, prompting Lammy to immediately let go of him. "O-oh, I'm sorry! I-I-I'm in your space, _I-I'm just g-g-gonna get my s-stuff all setup..!_ "

She runs hastily to the opposite side of the garage, leaving PaRappa in a daze, with his hat and hair all mussled. He blinks unbelievingly as PJ wanders over. "Whoa. I leave, and you end up having a good time? I should do that more often, in that case."

His face flushes and quickly tries to smoothen out everything, growling angrily, "I-it wasn't like that, you dummy!"

"Yeah, I know. Just messin' with ya." He chuckles as he holds out the object in his hand to him, ignoring the glare he was being given. "Anyways, here - something to set on that bruise since I don't wanna see you gettin' worse" His expression immediately darkens as he quietly asks, "You're seeing okay, right? Not off balance, or anything?"

" _Yes_ , I'm fine PJ! I don't have a concussion, or anything like that.." He grabs the ice pack and lifts his beanie slightly, setting it against the bruise. He winces at the cold sensation, but ultimately sighs in relief.

"Alright. Just sit and rest anyways. Heaven forbid something _else_ happens to you."

He rolls his eyes at the protective nature of his friend. It was kind of him to do so, which he appreciates of course; but he still found it somewhat unnecessary. He wasn't a kid anymore. "..m'kay. If you say so."

His sight wanders through the garage and eventually rest on Lammy. She adjusted the strap of her guitar, pulling a pick out of her pocket and strumming the strings slowly. He smiles warmly and wanders over to her side, pulling a nearby amp to sit down on next to her.

"Sorry Lammy..looks like today we'll have to see who the better player is some other time.." He adjusts the ice pack, watching as she smirks at him.

"O-okay. I still wanna show you something I was working on...nothing too big."

"Sure. Go for it." His tail wags endearingly as she stands by his side, her hands deftly sliding up and down the frets as she expertly picked out a pattern. PJ sets a vinyl onto a nearby record player, watching the two as they chatted over things, and sets his head down onto his folded arms.

"PJ, I already said, I'm _fine_. I just need to use the bathroom is all."

"...okay. Just be careful."

PaRappa throws his hands up into the air as he walked away, his ears supposedly set back annoyedly. "I will! Sheesh.."

The DJ watched as he entered the door, and then turned around to begin picking up the wrappers on the floor. A setting sun casted soft rays of orange and red as it sank further and further under the horizon.

He paused for a moment, gazing outside. _I wonder what it was that happened to PaRappa earlier?_ Whatever it was, Lammy seemed noticeably upset about it. She must've felt something that he didn't.

Of course, he didn't say what it was - she simply warned himself about the 'bad feeling she had' (Lammy must feel a bit more open around me to say something like that, I guess), so he left it as it is. Maybe he'll check with PaRappa once he's done inside?

A sudden voice causes him to drop the wrappers in his arms in bewilderment. "PJ?"

"..oh." He lifts up his sunglasses to see it if was really her. "...hey, Sunny." Said flower girl walks from her spot at the side of the garage, smiling softly at him. The glows from the sun made her silk dress look as if it was a flame, dancing erratically with each breeze. "Long time no see. The city life not work out after all?"

"No...it didn't." Not seeming to catch om to the slight harsh tone in his voice, she shrugged nonchalantly. "But I'm happy to see you here, at least." She tries to peer behind him, her eyes scanning the scattered amps and boxes. "Is PaRappa here? I met him earlier today, and was hoping I could still catch him. He isn't answering his phone."

"Oh! Uh…" _They met each other today? So_ _ **that's**_ _what happened._ All sorts of hideous scenarios were being thought up by him as he gazed behind him, masking his sudden nervous sweat with a quiet yawn. "Did you need to tell him something?"

"Well...here." She holds out a pink letter. White embroidery decorated the entire envelope, and was emblazoned with pink lettering.

It looked too fancy (and expensive) for the simple letter it looked like it was supposed to be. He look the paper over, seeing PaRappa's name written in cursive on the back. Glitter and hearts accompanied the fancy writing.

 _Uh oh._

To cement his apprehension, Sunny explained, "I was planning on something lately; we're still working out on all the details!" She holds her hands together ecstatically. "But I wanted to invite my closest friends to come. It would mean the world to me if you and PaRappa came."

His mind went blank. _Crap. What do I even say?_

The main objective nowadays was trying to keep his best friend happy after he had been in the state he was these past few weeks. 'Sad' didn't even begin to cover it. It was more like...depressed. Just defeated. And with all of his original optimism completely gone. He had to watch him deteriorate for all those weeks.

And the source of all the drama was standing in front of him, asking if he'd want to play again for round 2.

 _Hey. You don't know that. Things might not go so badly...right?_

But this sort of thing was no doubt going to put a thorn in between PaRappa's relationship with Lammy. He watched them be as close as ever earlier...whether something had happened at the concert or not, all he knew was that he was finally happy. After all those weeks, he wasn't looking terrible.

He gazed down at the letter. "Uhh...well. At the very least, I'll go."

"Really?! Oh, thank you PJ!" She unexpectedly hugs him tight, making him wobble on the spot.

 _Ehm._ He pats her awkwardly on the back. Sunny jumps back in shock. "I-i'm sorry! I'm just...so happy! Happier than I've been in the city, for sure!"

She skips out of the garage, calling over her back, "I'll let you know about the details once i try to get everyone else too!~"

PJ stands there uncomfortably, gazing down at the envelope once more. He quickly turns around at the sound of the garage door opening. A smiling PaRappa strolls out, whistling out the tune from Lammy's guitar earlier.

"Hey PJ." He smirks and tries to lean against a nearby amp, not expecting for it to give away and quickly dusts himself off in embarrassment. "Did I miss anything?"

The bear stands in silence, his palm losing its grip on the envelope behind his back. He lets out a slow sigh, gathering up the words to try and explain to him what had just happened without letting his disappointment show through.

"...mm. Yeah. You could say that."


	25. True Colors

"WHAT?!"

"Urm." A slight bead of sweat appeared on the bear's forehead as he held his large paws out in a calming gesture. " _Katy_ , maybe it would be best for you to cal-"

" _Don't_ _you_ _tell_ _me_ _to_ ' _calm_ _down', PJ!"_ The cat spits angrily with her tail violently thrashing about as she leans over the counter, her paws even making the necessary quotation marks. " _Sunny_ is back, and of all things you expect me to be, _is calm?!_ "

PJ winces as he looks about the music store. Though partially empty, the few customers browsing around either shrank down at Katy's livid shouting and scuffled along, or bewilderedly stopped and stared as to see what all the commotion was about.

All he had thought earlier on his routinely Sunday trip was, ' _maybe since I'm dropping in to get some new records, it wouldn't hurt to tell them now that i have the chance_.'

Of course, he didn't expect Lammy to be working the day as well, or Ma-San to be there either - congratulating her lively bandmate on her new position as co-manager. Already being a spirited feline, today was definitely not one of Katy's passive days...

The mouse in question grumbled as she sets aside the flowers she had brought for the occasion, of which Katy somehow hadn't noticed yet. She stares at the bear across the counter begrudgingly. _Way to ruin everything, you f-_

Katy continues her shouting, not paying much attention to the bear eagerly trying to calm her. "Katy, _relax!_ " He grumbles as he can clearly see flames in her eyes, rubbing his neck sorely. "Yeesh. I knew you'd react strongly, but not _this_ much…"

He looked around awkwardly as the remaining customers in the store finally stopped in their endeavors to gaze over at the odd scene.

PJ clears his throat, eventually taking in a deep breath and continuing. "Anyways...yes. She's back. And _before you cut me off_ , i wanted to tell you that she wants us all to do something with her, and-"

"Oh, no. No no no." With an annoyed hiss, Katy set a paw up to stop him, growling out, "I am NOT going to do anything with her. So you can stop that thought right there."

"Well.." PJ gazes to his side, rubbing his oversized arm with a large paw. "Apparently, she tried to message you? But they wouldn't send, for whatever reason?"

She nodded curtly. "Right. I blocked her number."

He blinks once before blankly asking, "What?"

"I got rid of any way she could contact me, because she was..an absolute _jerk_ to all of us. And i didn't want to hear anything from her. And of all of us, it was _especially_ PaRappa that got the worst of it."

She huffs, slouching and setting a paw on her waist. "You still remember that day she broke the news to us, right? At that little table at the donut shop we always went to.."

"Yeah. Of course I do." _Wow. That was a while ago.._ it had slipped his mind that they didn't gather at their usual place anymore. Remembering it now made him feel somewhat nostalgic.

"And you remember how she didn't even explain that much about it? Just dropped it all right then and there?" The ember returned to her eyes as she muttered, "And especially how it looked like PaRappa was about to burst out crying right there on the spot, too?"

"Yeah, I remember all that! But I-"

"I know i might give off the feeling that ' _i don't care_ ' sometimes," She holds up her paws once again, speaking in a high-pitched voice as she uses quotation marks while curling her lip, "but that isn't the half of it!" Her eyes finally soften, with her ears lowering themselves down slightly. Her voice returns, albeit quite hushed, as she mutters, "You just can't let it get to you. But it got to _someone_ , and I don't stand for that at all."

"..." PJ sighs somberly.

"And even besides that," she stands up straighter, her claws tapping the desk. "What about Ma-San and Lammy?"

Hearing her name being mentioned made the mouse perk up, her tail whisking about curiously. "(Hm?)"

Katy looks down solemnly. "I don't think she liked them very much to begin with; I've seen the dirty looks she would give them sometimes. _Though maybe i just imagined that…_ " She shrugs, slouching down onto the desk. "My point is, it was always up to me to remind her that they were around too."

The mouse gruffly sighed. "You are definitely not lying about that. It's like she forgot about us on purpose." She twitches an ear, and looks away with a slight grimace.

"And it's all because they happen to be _my_ friends, and we're all in a band together too! She talked about us two doing something together, but she never committed or took it seriously." Her ear twitches. "And when i decided to do my _own_ thing, she never made an effort to connect with these girls afterwards.

It hurt. I..I really cared about her…" Ma-San looks over at Katy, to see her staring off into space forlornly. She absentmindedly mumbled, wiping at her cheek embarrassingly, "We all did, i mean…"

The three stand in silence for a few slow seconds; the only sound being made was questioning, hushed talking throughout the store. Someone leaving and making the automated bell _ding_ seems to make Katy blink back into focus.

She gazes over at the mouse with soft eyes. "I'm sorry you had to hear all that, Ma-San.."

"No no, it's alright!" The mouse tried to give her a somewhat cheerful smile in return, though it felt somewhat forced due it clashing against her usual stoic nature. "Just. _My_ question is, what did PaRappa say to it?"

The girls look back over at PJ, who was in slight shock after hearing Ma-San ask about him. "Well…" He remembered back to when he brought it up to the dog in question, holding the letter behind his back (he seriously did NOT want to know what would happen should he have shown him it).

What had happened was he simply stood there for a slight moment with an odd look on his face, and muttered a quiet, "...ok." Then he went home. He couldn't tell what the off tone in his voice meant, however.

"...he didn't say too much. He was really surprised, to say the very least."

Katy nods. "Hmmm…" She gazes over at Ma-San, to which she exhales deeply before gazing back at PJ. "Sorry to cut you off. What was it she wanted to do again?"

"She hasn't decided yet. She just wants to make sure we'll all be there... for _whatever_ it is."

"Have you told anyone else yet?"

"About that…" He attempts to look behind her, into the hallway that leads into the employees' only room. "Is Lammy here? Since..."

"Yeah. she is! But she went on break." She cranes her head to gaze up at the clock on the wall behind her. "She should be coming back soon." Sighing, she nervously then looks down over to the room. "..what a pickle we got ourselves into, huh?"

Ma-San finally pipes up. "Yeah. But on the topic of pickles-" She points behind her at the room. "You think anything else _happened_ between them recently?~"

PJ stares blankly at her, and Katy sneers, softly shoving her. " _Ma-San!_ Don't be gross! And besides, I would've known if that happened!"

The bear shakes his head, not able to cover up the immature smirk growing on his face. "I, urh, don't know anything about _that_. But i should probably get going. It'd be better if you two talk to her about this stuff instead."

Katy tilts her head. "Alright...sorry you had to hear all that. Have a safe trip home PJ..and thanks again for telling us."

He waves kindly, and heads out the door, the little bell once again jingling to signify his departure.

Ma-San watches intently as he leaves, quietly grumbling to herself. _Whelp. He's gone. And so much for celebrating-_

"Ma-San!" Suddenly, two blue arms latch around her and bring her snug against Katy's torso, catching her by surprise. "Don't think i forgot about you!~" She nuzzles into her, making the mouse fidget uneasingly from all the affection and contact.

Not being quite used to it, it set off a slew of negative feelings in her, but it was nothing compared to the mound of warmth and euphoria she was feeling as well. _Especially_ when of all people, the one giving her the attention was Katy!

"I-I…" She tried to barr away any intrusive thoughts and reached over, grabbing the flowers. "Before I was _rudely interrupted_...I wanted to give you these. As celebration for you being promoted!" She can't help the shy smile growing on her face as she watched the cat light up.

"Oh!" She takes them and her smile grows even bigger. "Thank you so much!" Katy continued nuzzling the mouse in her arms, who practically felt close to becoming unconscious, with small pink sparks fizzing off the bundle of dynamite atop her head.

Suddenly she sees Lammy stroll by them nonchalantly, and is immediately overcome with extreme embarrassment. Katy lets her go and looks up, piping even more cheerfully, "Lammy! Just the sheepie I needed to see right now!~"

"Whu?" Lammy has a dazed look, and squints at her, her eyes attempting to focus on the cat's face. "Oh. S-sorry, I'm kinda in my own little world right now…"

Ma-San grumbled out annoyingly, " _(When are you_ _ **not**_ _in your 'own world' nowadays?)_ "

Not hearing her, Katy knowingly smirks, and asks Lammy to sit down. "So. I have some news that I'm not sure you're aware of…"

"Hm?"

"Someone. Invited us somewhere.. Not as a band. But as friends! Ehm…"

Ma-San rolls her eyes. "It's Sunny. She moved back into town recently and is wanting to do something later on."

The lamb immediately freezes. "WHAT?" She jolts up, panicking and nearly beginning to hyperventilate. "Wh-wha Sunny?! B-B-But I thought... _she was gone!_ "

"Nope. She is very much still here." The mouse takes in a breath, preparing to relay the story. "In fact, what had happened was-"

 _Dinging!_ "And so, the music store hasn't changed much at all! But I'm surprised you're interested at a- Oh." PJ strolls in, interrupting Ma-San, who gazes at him with more confusion than anger.

He strolls up to the counter, a curious Sunny latched onto his arm. "Hey you guys. I, urh, bumped into Sunny earlier!" His ear twitches as he lowly says, "I thought you all would've been in the back room. _Talking about stuff._ That i didn't get to explain yet.."

Katy's tail twitches. She can see in her peripheral vision a pale Lammy and blushing Ma-San both fidgeting somewhat. For their sake (and though she didn't want to admit it - possibly her own as well), she takes in a deep breath, and puts on her customer service voice. "Well hey there Sunny! Long time no see!~"

PJ stares with somewhat wide eyes as the flower girl holding onto his arm smiles sweetly at the feigned greeting. "And it feels so great to see you too, Katy!"

 _Hm. Staying right where she is, and not going in for our usual hug. Of course..._ Her puffing tail lowers down around the stool Ma-San was sitting on, the coolness of the melting somewhat calming against her prickling fur. _Just like old times._

She blushes slightly in annoyance and watches as the flower girl clears her throat. " So! I'm sure PJ told you already…" He shuffles under her grasp. "About the event? I'm dearly hoping you'll reserve your spots."

"Reserve?" Ma-San's squeaky voice rings aloud, everyone gazing over at her now. "Is it gonna be...what is the word?" She garbles to herself until she snaps her fingers. "Formal? A formal event?"

Sunny nods in response, an odd smile on her face. "Maybe." She looks over at Katy, now smiling warmly. "Are you going to be there?"

The cat looks to her side, seeing Lammy gulp and gaze down at her shoes. She then looks to her other side, only to see a disquivitive mouse staring right back.

"(I'll go if you go.)"

She feels her fur somewhat relax at the usual stolid tone in her voice. Smiling, she responds, "(Thank you Ma-San…)"

Looking back at an eyeing Sunny, she asks, "Who else is gonna be there, Sunny?"

"It'll be just us... _ehm_. Pretty much everyone here, at least?" She can't help somewhat rolling her eyes at hearing her hesitation. _I guess now she feels obligated to invite them along…_ "Oh, can't forget PaRappa, of course." She smiles widely and lays her head against PJ's arm, to which he shrinks down at.

Hearing the name makes Lammy promptly look back up, her ears perking up as she blurts out, "P-PaRappa is gonna be there?"

Sunny immediately snaps her head up and looks at her with mild surprise, until Katy quickly throws her arms over her two nearby friends as she shouts out, "Of course he will! Like old times!"

Katy softly winces as she studies Sunny's face. Getting the two to butt heads would _not_ be good. _Wouldn't Lammy technically win that contest with her being part goat?_ She pushes away the asinine idea of a headbutting contest between the two, watching as Sunny then nods. "Well, PJ said he'd be coming too. Didn't you?"

He puts on a smile. "Eeyup. I sure did, haha…" She looks away from him as he rubs his forehead distressingly with his free hand.

Lammy stands up confidently under Katy's arm. "Y-you can put me down as going too, then."

Katy grins ecstatically. "Awesome!" She slyfully whispers into the lamb's ear, " _Good thing too. I'm sure he'll definitely need it, since seeing you there would be a lifesaver for him!"_

The lamb's eyes widen as she tries to process what she had said. Katy nods as her friend then nearly swoons out of her arm. "You can book us for whatever you got planned!'

Sunny smiles widely, letting go of PJ to clap her hands together. "Great! Just one tip - it _is_ going to be a formal occasion. You all have _nice_ dresses to wear, right?"

Katy was just barely able to make out the slight twitch in her eyes, as if she was trying not to glance at the two girls at her sides. She bit her tongue, calmly stating, "Not to worry. We'll all make sure to be prepared."

"Oh, I know you will Katy!" She latches on to PJ's arm yet again, leading the two towards the door. The cat's smile steadily turns to a sneer as she watches them. "I'll let PJ know to tell you anymore details once we can figure them out!"

PJ gives a weak smile and wave as the bell _dings_ once more, leaving the three girls alone at the counter.

For a moment, it is silent. They all stand in shock, Katy's arm still hung limp around them. It was Ma-San that managed to pipe up, though she didn't bother to move. "I did not want to mention it...but did any of you also notice something was off with PJ?"

Lammy tittered nervously as she wiggled out of Katy's grasp. "N-no, I saw it too!"

Katy's grimace fades away, and she then retracts her arm, Ma-San pouting as she did so. She taps the desk with her unsheathed claws. "Of course I could. I've known him for years; I know when he's uncomfortable.

It doesn't happen all too often, since he's so chill about everything. But I can't imagine how he's feeling to actually react to something for once…"

Well outside of the music store, PJ silently heaves a dull sigh, wiping the sweat off his brow with the back of his free arm. Why on Earth did Sunny need to do all that?

So many things were off, to say the least. For one, everything was tense. He knows he could be okay with it, and go with the flow whenever need be. Yet he knows for a fact that it is nowhere near the same for his friends. They'll need just a bit more time still.

She was still holding onto his arm, the areas where she was touching feeling all too warm from the contact. He blushes as any nearby passerby gazed inquisitively at them, possibly wondering how someone like him could have Sunny Funny on his arm.

He clears his throat to clear the air of the awkward silence. Her voice lets out a sigh, and mumble out, "I think that went well…"

 _Uh. No. No it did not._

They went along the sidewalk only a few steps further before stopping at a tree underneath a small park, the air now being completely silent. The warmth immediately fades as she lets go out him, muttering, "Who am I kidding? No it didn't."

He then watches in bewilderment as she kneels down onto the grass, following her lead and sitting down heavily beside her. She sets a hand onto the ground, continuing with, "I could tell they weren't happy to see me neither."

She looks up at him, catching him off guard when he can clearly see the glossiness in her eyes. "I'm not dumb. I could tell that not even PaRappa was happy to see me when I came back…"

Tears began to roll down her face as she held her hands up to it, softly choking out quiet sobs.

PJ sat for a moment, stunned by what was happening. It absolutely surprised him that she felt so strongly. Some dark part of him felt somewhat angry, feeling it was yet a ruse that she was pulling just to garner some sort of sympathy from him.

But yet, he hated seeing anyone crying. He especially hated to see anyone he cared about upset in any way, shape, or form. Even though it might've been out of place, he pushed down any negative feelings and reached over to hug her tightly.

She sniffles, somewhat in shock, and hesitantly reaches up to hug him back. "You're still as sweet as I remember, though...I'm just happy that you're still here with me."

Feeling the tone in her voice lighten up made him smile satisfactorily, letting her go and sitting back. She was finally smiling as well now, wiping her tears off with her hand.

"...I know I said that the city wasn't what I thought it out to be. But the truth was - when I got there, it made me wake up to realize something." She reached out to hold PJ's soft paw, her own hand incredibly small in comparison to it. "I guess you could say I had some change of heart…"

She sighed. Very quietly, as if painful to finally have it be strung out of her, she spoke. "I know I wasn't a very good person. I'm still not. But I'm trying to change that.

"The city made me realize how shallow I was...how I took advantage of the kindness of people around me. All this time, I thought it was just because I was me. I was Sunny Funny. It was what i deserved! But…"

She shakes her head, and looks up at him. "I want to show everyone that I'm trying. My friends who I didn't even think twice about in the past, especially. I missed them. I messed up.. _I messed up…_ "

She bows her head down while mumbling her mantra quietly, inciting him to hug her again. Sighing softly, she hugs him back, once again becoming tearful. "I want to get to know everyone again. Start all over, you know? It's why I invited them all to the banquet."

He lets her go, curiously looking at her. "It's gonna be a banquet?"

She chuckles. "That got your attention now?" He smirks shamefully while she explains. "It's moreso like a sort of dinner-dance...technically, it's in celebration for my Dad, even though he claims it's partly for me too." She smiles proudly.

"I, uh, don't really dance that much, Sunny." Or at least, it's been a long while. He would dance occasionally at Club Fun whenever he wasn't DJing.

Sunny waves off his concern. "You'll be fine! Do you think any of my dad's friends know how to dance? Those old farts will be too busy embarrassing each other to even look at you. And I should know. I've seen them dance before."

She lets out a guffawing laugh, to which PJ laughs along with her, feeling strangely joyful at hearing it. It was wonderful to see Sunny happy again.

It was especially wonderful to hear her new stance on her life now. To think that he had assumed so much of her recently...it made him upset to think about it.

She looks up at him, still grinning, but then her smiles begins to quickly fade. She quietly says, Do you think PaRappa would ever like me again?"

He's caught off guard and hesitates. "Uh-"

She sighs glumly. "I knew it. He was acting _off_ when I saw him. He wasn't his usual self at all...it makes me wonder...if…"

A sweat breaks out on his head when she squints, and gazes off, back towards the way of the music store.

He waves a paw and quickly says, "It'll be alright! He's, _uh_ , still really hurt and all. I'm sure he's just recovering. Recovering from shock, I mean. Because you're back?"

She looks up at him confusingly, making him worry that his ad-libbed words didn't make sense. He always left things like that up to PaRappa…

"Did I really hurt him that much?"

"Well." He adjusts his spot on the grass, itching at his stomach, his eyes wandering in order to avoid looking at her. "...yeah. He was really upset, to say the least about it. I'd say if it wasn't for us making him go out and about, he'd still be locked up at home, moping over it all." He gazes back at her to see her looking down at her crossed hands in her lap. "...but it wasn't just him. You hurt all of us."

She seems slightly aghast when he finished, and he shrugs in response. "But I'd say that it'll take a bit of time for everything to get better, is all. You're already making an effort. And that's a big thing by itself."

Sunny smiles, and reaches to hug him back for the first time, sniffling quietly as she says, "Thank you so much, PJ."

He blushes and hus her back, smiling warmly. "You're welcome."


End file.
